Donald Trump has announced plans to sue The New York Times for $15 billion, accusing the newspaper of defamation and political bias.
In a post on his Truth Social platform late on Monday, the former president said the paper had been allowed to “lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”
Mr Trump took particular aim at the Times’ endorsement of Vice-President Kamala Harris during the 2024 election, calling the newspaper “a mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party.” He criticised the decision to publish the endorsement on the paper’s front page, describing it as “something heretofore unheard of.”
The lawsuit is set to be filed in Florida, where Mr Trump now resides and where Republican support remains strong. The Times has not yet issued a public response.
This is not the first time Mr Trump has attempted to take the paper to court. In 2021, he filed a $100 million lawsuit, accusing the Times and his niece, Mary Trump, of conspiring to obtain his tax records. The investigation won a Pulitzer Prize, and the case was dismissed two years later.
He also filed a separate $475 million claim against CNN in 2023 after the network aired comparisons between him and Adolf Hitler. That suit was also rejected by a federal judge.
Mr Trump has long argued that leading US media outlets are biased against him, often referring to them as “fake news.” His critics, however, point out that defamation cases against major news organisations face high legal hurdles in the United States, where free speech protections are strong.
The latest action highlights the continued friction between the former president and the press as the political season heats up ahead of the 2028 race.
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