Trump Files $15 Billion Lawsuit Against New York Times and Penguin Random House

U.S. President Donald Trump has filed a lawsuit seeking at least $15 billion in damages against The New York Times, four of its reporters, and Penguin Random House, alleging defamation and libel. 

The case was lodged on Monday, September 15, in the U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida.

The lawsuit centers on a series of New York Times articles and a 2024 book titled Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, written by Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner, and published by Penguin Random House. The book claims Trump mismanaged the fortune he inherited and cultivated a false image of success.

Trump’s legal team argues that the book and related articles contained “repugnant distortions and fabrications” published “with actual malice.”

According to the filing, the publications damaged Trump’s personal and business reputation, reduced the value of his brand, and harmed his future financial prospects.

The complaint also accuses the New York Times of acting as “a virtual mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democrat Party” and attempting to influence the 2025 United States presidential election by portraying Trump as unfit for office.

In a statement included in the filing, Trump described the publications as “the single largest illegal campaign contribution, ever,” and criticized the newspaper for endorsing Kamala Harris during the election campaign.

Neither the New York Times nor Penguin Random House has issued a public response to the lawsuit.

This is not Trump’s first legal action against the New York Times. In 2020, he sued the newspaper over an opinion piece linking his campaign to Russian interference in the 2016 United States elections; that case was dismissed on First Amendment grounds. In 2021, he filed a separate lawsuit against the paper and his niece Mary Trump over a 2018 investigation into his family’s finances; a New York judge dismissed that case in 2023.

The court has not yet scheduled initial hearings in the new case.