President Trump filed a $15 billion defamation lawsuit late Monday against the New York Times and some of its most prominent reporters for articles and a book making the case that he built his fortune and reputation in part through fraud.
The suit also cites an interview that the Times conducted ahead of last year’s elections. Retired U.S. Marine Corps Gen. John F. Kelly, who served as chief of staff during Trump’s first term, warned that he believed Trump met the definition of fascist.
And Trump’s legal team also argued that the Times wrongly gave producer Mark Burnett credit for the success of the NBC reality contest show The Apprentice, rather than to Trump, who served as the show’s host and star.
“Today, the Times is a full-throated mouthpiece of the Democrat Party,” Trump’s lawyers argued in the filing.
In a statement released by a spokesperson, the New York Times Co. called the case meritless.
“It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting” the newspaper company said. “The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics. We will continue to pursue the facts without fear or favor and stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.”
The case was filed by Trump as a private individual in federal court in Tampa. The filing itself is strewn with praise of Trump as a politician, a president, an entrepreneur and an entertainer. And it was submitted by a team of attorneys who have represented Trump in his other lawsuits against major media companies, including ABC, CBS, and the Wall Street Journal.
On social media, Trump said the suit represents a major expansion of his full-court press against the press.
“The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA, and our Nation as a whole,” Trump wrote. “I am PROUD to hold this once respected ‘rag’ responsible, as we are doing with the Fake News Networks such as our successful litigation against George Slopadopoulos/ABC/Disney, and 60 Minutes/CBS/Paramount.”
Public figures such as the president must meet a high bar to prove defamation in court. They need to show that the defendants knew what they were publishing was false – or that they had serious doubts about the truth of those statements.
Yet Trump has not had to press his cases in the judicial system. When faced with his lawsuits, other big media players have agreed to settle.
ABC’s parent company, the Walt Disney Co., paid $16 million to settle Trump’s suit over misstatements by anchor George Stephanopoulos.
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