Miami, United States | September 16, 2025
Former U.S. President Donald J. Trump has filed a $15 billion defamation and libel lawsuit against The New York Times, four of its journalists, and publisher Penguin Random House.
The case, lodged in the U.S. District Court in Florida on Monday, accuses the defendants of engaging in a “decades-long pattern” of defamatory reporting, including coverage of Trump’s business record and his ties to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. The suit also targets the book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, published by Penguin Random House.
Trump claims the publications were produced with “actual malice,” alleging they distorted his reputation, caused economic harm, and damaged his political standing. The filing comes days after The New York Times reported on a disputed “birthday note” allegedly written by Trump to Epstein. Trump has denied authoring the note.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the Times had been allowed “to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”
Neither The New York Times nor Penguin Random House has issued an immediate public response. The lawsuit is the latest escalation in Trump’s long-running battle with U.S. media outlets.
