DawgTalkers.net Forums DawgTalk Palus Politicus Trump files $15 billion lawsuit against New York Times over campaign coverage

The suit alleges the paper and four of its reporters unfairly damaged his business reputation, tried to sink his 2024 campaign and tried to prejudice judges and juries against him.

President Donald Trump on Monday filed a federal defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, four of its reporters and Penguin Random House over coverage of his 2024 campaign.

The suit, filed in U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, which covers the area where Trump resides outside the White House, accused the newspaper of attempting to ruin his reputation as a businessman, sink his campaign and prejudice judges and juries against him in coverage of his campaign.

The reporters and defendants are Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker, and Michael S. Schmidt. Penguin Random House published a book by Craig and Buettner titled "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success."

The newspaper, the suit alleges, "continued spreading false and defamatory content about President Trump" and refused to recognize he "secured the greatest personal and political achievement in American history" with his 2024 win.

The suit singles out a New York Times editorial endorsing Democratic opponent Kamala Harris.

"The [editorial] Board asserted hypocritically and without evidence that President Trump would 'defy the norms and dismantle the institutions that have made our country strong,'" the suit states.

It also points to three long-form articles in 2024 by the paper's reporters named in the filing challenging narratives on Trump's success as a businessman, looking at past scandals and analyzing his character as one that could move the Oval Office toward dictatorship.

"Today, the Times is a full-throated mouthpiece for the Democrat Party," the filing alleges. "The newspaper's editorial routine is now one of industrial-scale defamation and libel against political opponents. As such, the Times has become a leading, and unapologetic purveyor of falsehoods against President Trump."

Neither the New York Times, Penguin Random House, nor the reporters named in the suit immediately responded to requests for comment early Tuesday.

The suit includes letters sent by Trump's lawyers to the New York Times and Penguin Random House in October, along with responses from the two media organizations' lawyers. The letter to the Times demanded it cease and desist from making "false and defamatory statements" about the president, while listing a litany of complaints about Times coverage.

Newsroom lawyer David McCraw responded by defending the reporting in articles mentioned by Trump's lawyers.

"Little needs to be said about the rest of your letter, which is principally a litany of personal complaints about The New York Times and its reporters, punctuated with falsehoods and premised on the deeply troubling notion that anyone who dares to report unfavorable facts about a presidential candidate is engaged in “sabotage” (as opposed to, say, contributing to the free exchange of information and ideas that makes our democracy possible)," McCraw wrote, according to the letter attached to Monday's suit.

Carolyn K. Foley, Penguin Random House senior vice president and associate general counsel, responded to Trump lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik: "The fact that the authors of the book do not share your favorable view of your client's career, does not provide the foundation for a defamation claim."

Monday's filing seeks no less than $15 billion in compensatory damages for the alleged defamation, as well as unspecified punitive damages.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/do...it-new-york-campaign-coverage-rcna231554

Thus far he has sued Bob Woodward, The Washington Post and now The New York Times among a host of others.

Never speak ill of the great and powerful Oz or he will seek his retirbution!

"I am your retribution!" - Donald Trump

I was thinking about this.. The thought occurred to me that all the Times has to do is Prove their point, By that I mean prove that they simply reported what they saw. No malice intended. Trump should lose.

Once again, if it gets to SCOTUS, all bets are off. They appear corrupt.

While they are certainly conservative-leaning, they have already ruled against Trump plenty of times.

The presidential immunity ruling amid the environment it was issued is still a head-scratcher for me, and Roberts generally wasn't smelling too good during that time, but overall the claim that they have been corrupted rings pretty hollow, IMO.

Sour grapes from Sour puss. Boo hoo.

I simply don't agree. But we have a hearing coming up on Tariffs. That goes trumps way, they are corrupt. Nothing Hollow about it.

If nothing else, this place is great for the non-stop laughs. 🤣

Yes it is and we certainly appreciate your contribution to that.

Judge rejects Trump’s New York Times lawsuit for being ‘decidedly improper and impermissible’
By

Brian Stelter

The New York Times building in Manhattan, New York, on September 16, 2025. Kylie Cooper/Reuters
In a ruling dripping with derision, a federal judge has rejected President Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, asserting that the rambling 85-page suit did not follow federal rules for filing civil complaints.

The president’s team has been given a month to refile, and a Trump spokesperson indicated that they will do so.

Judge Steven D. Merryday of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida said Friday that the suit “stands unmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8” of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.

A complaint must be a “short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact,” he wrote, and Trump’s broadside against The Times was “decidedly improper and impermissible.”


Merryday said Trump’s legal team can refile in the next four weeks, but must keep the complaint to 40 pages or fewer.

A complaint is not supposed to be “a public forum for vituperation and invective” or “a megaphone for public relations,” he said.



When Trump filed the defamation suit earlier this week, claiming $15 billion in damages, numerous legal experts told CNN that the suit was meritless, and several argued that it was more of a PR stunt than a serious case.


The lengthy lawsuit accused the Times of being a “virtual mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party. It also named as defendants publisher Penguin Random House and four Times reporters, including two who wrote a book for Penguin, titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.”

The complaint read at times like a pro-Trump op-ed, with page after page of gushing praise for the president and repeated references to lawsuits he has filed against other media outlets.

The president’s legal team indicated that it will submit an updated complaint.

“President Trump will continue to hold the Fake News accountable through this powerhouse lawsuit against the New York Times, its reporters, and Penguin Random House, in accordance with the judge’s direction on logistics,” a spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement.


A representative for The New York Times did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the decision.

On Thursday, New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn said at an Axios event that Trump was “wrong on the facts” and “wrong on the law” regarding defamation.

“We’ll fight it, and we’ll win,” Kahn said.