On Monday, September 15th, President Trump announced that he will file a defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times, seeking up to $15 billion in damages. The incident stems from The New York Times publishing several articles recently discussing the relationship between Trump and the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Trump made the announcement on the social media platform Truth Social, stating that the lawsuit will be filed in Florida. He accuses The New York Times of consistently publishing false reports about him, his family, and his political and business activities.
In a post, Trump wrote, “Today, with great honor, I am filing a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times. The New York Times is one of the worst and most corrupt newspapers in our country, almost becoming the ‘mouthpiece’ of the radical left-wing Democratic Party.”
“For decades, The New York Times has been lying about your favorite president (that’s me!), my family, my businesses, the ‘America First Movement,’ the ‘Make America Great Again’ movement, and the entire nation.”
Trump expressed pride in holding The New York Times accountable, similar to his past lawsuits against other media outlets that aired controversial news, which ultimately resulted in record-breaking settlements.
“I am proud to hold this once respected ‘broken newspaper’ accountable, just as we did with fake news media such as George Slopadopoulos, ABC, Disney, CBS ’60 Minutes,’ and Paramount, successfully suing these outlets for malicious defamation, as they used complex manipulations of documents and images to falsely malign me, resulting in record settlements.”
Trump emphasized that The New York Times has habitually and intentionally engaged in false reporting and defamation against him, behavior that is both unacceptable and illegal and must be stopped immediately.
“For too long, The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me. This ends now! This lawsuit will be filed in the great state of Florida. Thank you for your attention to this matter. Let’s Make America Great Again!”
As of now, The New York Times has not commented on the issue.