Donald Trump has taken another major swing at one of his longtime rivals—the press.
On Monday, the U.S. president filed a staggering $15 billion (around R260 billion) defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, accusing the paper of running a long-term smear campaign filled with “actual malice.”
The move adds to Trump’s history of clashing with the media, but this time the stakes are higher than ever.
A Familiar Feud Gets Bigger
Since returning to the White House, Trump, now 79, has not held back his disdain for news outlets critical of him.
He’s limited access for journalists, openly insulted them, and dragged some into court.
This latest legal strike comes shortly after The Times published reports linking Trump to a crude birthday note allegedly tied to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—something the president strongly denies.
Taking to his Truth Social platform, Trump made his position crystal clear:
“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”
Who Trump Is Targeting
The lawsuit doesn’t just go after The New York Times as an institution.
Four of its reporters and even publishing giant Penguin Random House have been named as defendants.
The 85-page filing, lodged in the U.S. District Court for Florida’s Middle District, specifically points to three articles published between September and October last year, along with a book by journalists Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig.
According to Trump’s legal team, these works were not just critical—they formed part of a “decades-long pattern” of targeted defamation.
Claims of Bias and Malice
The complaint accuses The Times of deliberately abandoning journalistic standards when covering Trump.
It claims the paper wrote stories in “the most antagonistic and negative way possible” and often denied him enough time to respond before publishing.
In one particularly blunt line, the lawsuit alleges:
“Defendants baselessly hate President Trump in a deranged way.”
Trump’s team is now pushing for at least $15 billion in compensatory damages, plus additional punitive damages to be decided at trial.
Not Trump’s First Media Lawsuit
This case is just the latest in Trump’s increasingly aggressive legal war against major media organizations.
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In July, he sued Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for $10 billion, after reports linked him again to Epstein-related documents.
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That same month, Trump reached a $16 million settlement with Paramount over a 60 Minutes segment on CBS News, claiming the program unfairly edited an interview with Kamala Harris during the 2024 election cycle.
What Comes Next?
For now, The New York Times has not publicly commented on the lawsuit.
But given the scale of Trump’s demand—and his history of using lawsuits as both a legal and political weapon—this battle is set to be closely watched.
The question now is whether this case will actually go to trial or end in another high-dollar settlement, adding fuel to Trump’s ongoing war with the media.