Trump Files $15 Billion Lawsuit Against The New York Times, Accusing the Paper of Libel and Bias

Donald Trump grew up in Queens—a respectable neighborhood, though still on the margins of New York. Across the East River rises glittering Manhattan—“the city,” as it is called by those who live outside it. At the very heart of that island sits the newsroom of The New York Times.

When the paper decided to profile the young developer in 1976, the piece was openly flattering: “He is tall, trim, blond, with a dazzling white smile, and strongly resembles Robert Redford. He moves around the city in a silver Cadillac with a personal chauffeur, its license plate engraved with his initials, DJT. His companions are striking models, he belongs to the most prestigious clubs, and at 30 he puts his net worth at ‘more than $200 million.’”

The Redford comparison feels dated now, given the actor’s death (“A good way to go, I suppose,” Trump remarked). Back then the “quick-tongued” subject observed that his father, Fred Trump—who built housing for the middle class in Queens and Brooklyn—had only recently tried to enter the Manhattan market, driven, as he put it, by “psychology.”

The most telling line of the piece: “Mr. Trump, who calls himself a man who avoids attention, allowed a reporter to spend a ‘typical workday’ with him.”

I recall this episode, as a native of Brooklyn, to underline that the president has always sought recognition from The New York Times. And he received it, even if the tabloids reveled more in his scandals—until he turned to politics.

Now Trump has filed a $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times. His chances are minimal. A Times representative stated: "This lawsuit has no merit. It contains no legitimate claims and is aimed solely at intimidation and at curbing independent journalism." Notably, the suit cites no specific trigger—neither an article nor an alleged falsehood. That stands in sharp contrast to Trump’s successful cases against CBS and ABC. Yet the very act of filing, which forces a company to spend millions on lawyers, is often the point.

In the 1980s, Trump filed a $500 million lawsuit against Chicago Tribune architecture critic Paul Gapp, a Pulitzer Prize winner, for his scathing review of Trump’s plan for a 150-story skyscraper. Gapp had called it "one of the silliest things anyone could inflict on New York or any other city." Trump argued that the critic had "virtually torpedoed" the project and turned it into an object of "ridicule and contempt." The court, however, dismissed the case as a matter of protected opinion.

The current case names White House chief correspondent Peter Baker, investigative reporter Michael Schmidt, and Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, authors of the book "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success." Craig had published parts of Trump’s tax returns, work for which her team was awarded a Pulitzer Prize.

By comparison, ABC agreed to pay $16 million after George Stephanopoulos said Trump had been found guilty of rape rather than of "sexual assault" in the case brought by E. Jean Carroll. CBS also paid $16 million over the manipulative editing of an interview with Kamala Harris on "60 Minutes."

Trump also sued the owner of The Wall Street Journal over the publication of a birthday greeting to Jeffrey Epstein—an entry he denies, though the overlaps in the predator’s released records appear striking.

In the lawsuit against The New York Times, filed in Florida, the president launched a fierce attack on the paper’s coverage of his campaign. On Truth Social he wrote that he was taking on "one of the worst and most depraved newspapers in the history of our country, which has become the mouthpiece of the radical left Democratic Party." According to him, the placement of support for Kamala Harris on the front page was "unprecedented." "The New York Times," he added, "has lied for decades about your favorite president (ME!), my family, my business, the America First movement, MAGA and the nation as a whole. I am PROUD to be holding this once-respected rag accountable."

Yet the publication of an editorial on the front page is an example of free expression, and the paper has taken similar steps in the past. Moreover, as a public figure, Trump must prove actual malice or a reckless disregard for the truth.

Since coverage of his actions is indeed largely critical, one might assume that The New York Times stands at the forefront of the "resistance." But without specific factual errors, the lawsuit falls under the protection of the First Amendment.

At a press gaggle near Marine One, ABC correspondent Jonathan Karl, a longtime acquaintance of Trump, reminded him of criticism directed at Pam Bondi’s investigations into left-wing activists: "Many of your supporters say that hate speech is also free speech."

"She probably would have gone after you! Because you treat me unfairly! This is hatred! You have a lot of hate in your heart!" the president replied.

A moment later he added: "Maybe they’ll come after ABC too. Well, ABC recently paid me $16 million for a form of ‘hate speech,’ right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of ‘hate speech,’ so maybe they’ll come after you as well."

For Trump, lawsuits are a tool of pressure. That is why he has taken The New York Times—the paper across the river, toward which he has always felt conflicted emotions ranging from admiration to hatred, and in recent years mostly hatred—to court.