Donald Trump has once again used the court system to accomplish his dirty work.
The commander in chief announced a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times on Monday night, claiming that the paper intentionally lied about MAGA conservatives and the “nation as a whole.”
“Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar [sic] Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual ‘mouthpiece’ for the Radical Left Democrat Party,” Donald J. Trump wrote on Truth Social. “I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER.”
He also took issue with the Times’ 2024 endorsement of former Vice President Kamala Harris, a practice that almost every newspaper editorial board engages in.
“Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF!” he tweeted.
Trump made it clear where he got his inspiration and precedent for the massive lawsuit: his previous “successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount,” which he claimed had smeared him through routine editing decisions made during a sit-down interview with Harris last year.
Trump insisted that the network had selectively edited Harris’ responses to a question about Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—a detail made even more confusing by the fact that CBS’s 60 Minutes and Face the Nation cut and aired different portions of her 21-second response on different days. An independent review by the Federal Communications Commission revealed that the two answers were actually cut from the same longer response, and media law experts predicted that Trump’s legal offensive would be a simple victory for CBS.
However, in July, CBS’s parent company, Paramount, settled the seemingly straightforward lawsuit with Trump—much to the dismay of network employees—allowing Paramount’s controlling shareholder, Shari Redstone, to complete a multibillion-dollar merger that required the Trump administration’s approval.
The interview and Trump’s response to it have had far-reaching consequences. Bill Owens, the longtime head of 60 Minutes, resigned after Paramount executives allegedly tried to interfere with the show’s content, pressuring him to change how the show reported on the president. Wendy McMahon, the former president of CBS, resigned under similar circumstances shortly after.
For months, Trump had promised to include the Times in the lawsuit, claiming that the paper’s decision to report on the case constituted tortious interference.
A Times spokesperson categorically rejected Trump’s lawsuit.
“This lawsuit has no merit,” a spokesperson stated. “It makes no legitimate legal claims and is instead an attempt to suppress and discourage independent reporting. The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and defend journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.
