US President Donald Trump has launched a staggering $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times, accusing the paper of waging a decades-long campaign of “lies, smears and defamation” against him.
The 79-year-old president filed the complaint in a Florida federal court on Monday, escalating his ongoing war with America’s media establishment.
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” Trump declared on Truth Social.
The lawsuit also names four Times reporters and Penguin Random House, the publisher of a book by Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig both longtime Trump critics.
The 85-page complaint singles out three Times articles published between September and October last year, alongside the book, as evidence of what it describes as “a malicious pattern of defamation.”
The move follows reporting on a lewd birthday note allegedly linked to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein — a claim Trump has fiercely denied.
The lawsuit marks the latest chapter in President Trump’s relentless crusade against the press, as he doubles down on his combative posture toward outlets critical of his leadership
