President Donald Trump filed a $15 billion lawsuit in opposition to The New York Occasions and its reporters on Sept. 15, accusing the newspaper of defamation.
Trump filed the lawsuit in U.S. District Court docket in Florida over articles and a ebook written by two New York Occasions reporters and revealed in the course of the peak of the 2024 election, alleging that they had been crafted with “precise malice, calculated to inflict most injury” on him.
“Defendants maliciously revealed the ebook and the articles realizing that these publications had been full of repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump,” the lawsuit reads.
The lawsuit additionally named ebook writer Penguin Random Home as one of many defendants.
A spokesperson for the NY Occasions mentioned the lawsuit “has no benefit,” calling it an try by the president to “stifle and discourage impartial reporting.”
“The New York Occasions is not going to be deterred by intimidation techniques. We are going to proceed to pursue the information with out concern or favor and get up for journalists’ First Modification proper to ask questions on behalf of the American individuals,” the spokesperson informed The Epoch Occasions by way of e mail.
A Penguin Random Home spokesperson mentioned in an emailed assertion that Trump’s lawsuit is meritless.
“Penguin Random Home stands by the ebook and its authors and can proceed to uphold the values of the First Modification which might be elementary to our function as a ebook writer,” the spokesperson said.
Trump introduced the lawsuit in a Reality Social publish, saying that The New York Occasions had develop into “a digital mouthpiece for the unconventional left Democrat Get together” and citing its endorsement of then-Democratic presidential candidate and Vice President Kamala Harris.
“Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was truly put useless middle on the entrance web page of The New York Occasions, one thing heretofore UNHEARD OF,” he mentioned.
Trump accused The New York Occasions of spreading lies about him, his household, his companies, the America First Motion, the MAGA (Make America Nice Once more) motion, and the nation as a complete.
“The New York Occasions has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for much too lengthy, and that stops, NOW,” the president mentioned in his post.
In his publish, Trump additionally referenced earlier lawsuits he filed in opposition to ABC Information and anchor George Stephanopoulos and one other in opposition to Paramount and CBS. Each circumstances had been settled for “document quantities,” he mentioned.
The primary case stemmed from Trump’s allegations that Stephanopoulos defamed him when stating, throughout an interview, {that a} federal jury discovered Trump answerable for rape.
ABC Information and Stephanopoulos subsequently agreed to a settlement, which included a $15 million charitable contribution, $1 million for Trump’s legal professional charges, and a proper apology.
Within the second case, Trump filed a lawsuit in opposition to Paramount—the father or mother firm to main broadcasting networks corresponding to CBS, MTV, Nickelodeon, and others—over CBS’s “60 Minutes” interview with Harris forward of the 2024 presidential election. Trump’s lawsuit alleged that CBS edited the interview to learn Harris within the election.
Trump announced in July that Paramount had paid $16 million to settle the lawsuit, including that he anticipated one other $20 million from the “new homeowners” of the corporate, which he mentioned would come within the type of “promoting, PSAs [public service announcements], or comparable programming.”
Correction: A earlier model of this text misspelled George Stephanopoulos’s title. The Epoch Occasions regrets the error.
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