Trump sues New York Times for $15 billion for defamation

(The Hill) - President Trump filed a lawsuit against The New York Times late Monday in Florida, accusing the paper and four of its reporters of defamation and libel. 

The lawsuit, which was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, listed several stories and a book written by two journalists before the 2024 presidential election, alleging they are part of the “decades-long pattern” by the Gray Lady of “intentional and malicious defamation against” the president. 

“Overall, Defendants used the Book and the Articles to make numerous malicious, defamatory, and disparaging claims about President Trump based on distortion and fabrication," Trump’s legal team said, according to court documents. "The Book and the Articles recklessly disregard the truth that the President’s fortune was developed through business genius, creativity, perseverance, talent, authenticity and other unique traits."

“Not, as the Book and the Articles falsely claim, by luck, any semblance of wrongdoing, ‘twisting the rules,’ or reliance on government programs,” the prosecutors added.

Trump announced the lawsuit in a late Monday post on Truth Social, accusing the news outlet of being “one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party.” 

“The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole,” he wrote.

The outlet ripped Trump's lawsuit, claiming it has "no merit."

"It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting," a Times spokesperson told The Hill in a statement. "The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics."

"We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people," the spokesperson added.

The president has ramped up his attacks on the media in recent months, including most recently suing The Wall Street Journal, two of its reporters, its publisher and media mogul Rupert Murdoch. The suit followed an explosive report detailing an alleged letter Trump sent to late, disgraced financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein for his 50th birthday in 2003.