This is what Trump said about suing The New York Times:
Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual “mouthpiece” for the Radical Left Democrat Party. I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER. Their Endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead center on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore UNHEARD OF! 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. 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, who knew that they were falsely “smearing” me through a highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration, which was, in effect, a malicious form of defamation, and thus, settled for record amounts. They practiced this longterm INTENT and pattern of abuse, which is both unacceptable and illegal. The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW! The suit is being brought in the Great State of Florida. Thank you for your attention to this matter. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
New York Times spokesperson Charles Stadtlander said that the news organization “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.”
RawStory found some tellingly accurate pithy and sarcastic reactions to this on social media in their article “Trump makes midnight announcement of 'stunningly pathological' $15B lawsuit.” Check them out. I like George Conway’s the best:
This story is all over the media:
It is being covered in the international press too:
The Guardian reported on the story with a photo that is itself an editorial comment.
Not only did they use that photo as the lead but they also used this one in the article:
Here’s an excerpt:
Different theories abound over the strategy, from creating a chilling effect on the media to feeding an anti-mainstream media sentiment among his most vigorous supporters. One firm conclusion, however, is that the tactic is here to stay.
“I don’t think this is the end of this treatment of the media,” said one executive at a major US news outlet. “We’ll see more.”
Such is the ferocity and readiness with which Trump has turned to legal action – this is now the fourth multibillion suit he has filed against separate media companies since his return to office – some executives have talked about the possibility of displaying some kind of united front, showing solidarity against Trump’s tactics.
They reach this conclusion:
While Trump may consider the suits against ABC and 60 Minutes as successes, the terms of the tactic may change once some cases actually reach the courts. Trump’s decision to sue The Wall Street Journal and its media mogul owner, Rupert Murdoch, over its report of his alleged lewd note to the late sex abuser Jeffrey Epstein, is expected in court soon. He denies being the author of the note.
That brings with it risks for the president himself, most notably in terms of the divulgence of information relevant to the case. No company has yet discovered how the president and his advisers will react when they have more to lose in the process.
Both Murdoch and the New York Times have the financial muscle – and political stomach – to see such cases through.
Clinical psycholgists John Gartner and Harry Segal make their case for Trump having dementia (see article), but I disagree with their assessment. I think what we see in his behavior is what happens when someone with his malevolent personality and no scruples feels they can say and do anything and get away with it. For example, Trump just responded to a reporter from ABC News who asked him about Pam Bondi going after liberal groups by personally attacking him to his face, in addtion to a typical attack on a station he doesn’t like.
See:
This is what Trump said:
"They should probably go after people like you because you treat me so unfairly," Trump said. "It's hate, you have a lot of hate in your heart. Maybe they'll come after ABC. Well, ABC paid me $16 million recentlyfor a form of hate speech, right? Your company paid me $16 million for a form of hate speech. So maybe they'll have to go after you."
This was also covered on HUFFPOST:
This is how The NY Times (subscription) reported on the lawsuit.
From the article: A spokesman for The Times responded: “This lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting. 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.”
It concludes:
The complaint also took issue with the endorsement of Kamala Harris by the editorial board of The Times in September 2024, noting that the endorsement had been published on the front page “in a location never seen before.”
The lawsuit repeatedly took umbrage with Ms. Craig and Mr. Buettner’s book. It said the book tried to tarnish one of President Trump’s “most well-known successes” as a reality television star. According to the lawsuit, the book inaccurately stated that Mark Burnett, the executive producer of “The Apprentice,” had discovered Mr. Trump and transformed him into a celebrity. The lawsuit claims that Mr. Trump was already “a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business” when he was put on the show.
In an effort to prove “malice” against Mr. Trump, the lawsuit cited more than a dozen articles from The Times dating back to his first term in office that it claimed “maliciously and falsely portray him as dishonest, erode public trust in him and tear down his achievements.”
In a social media post on Monday evening, Mr. Trump said he was “proud” to hold The Times responsible for decades of lying about him, his family and business. He referred to the success of his other lawsuits, pointing to the settlements by Paramount and ABC.
If this ever makes it into court, in my non-lawyer opinion, this is nothing less than the First Amendment being on trial.
Presumably Trump’s lawyers know that in order to win a libel lawsuit, public figures like Trump must show “actual malice.” This means mean the defendants knew the statements were false or acted with reckless disregard for their truth. In other words if The NY Times can prove that what they wrote was true they win.
Some of the articles cited in the lawsuit (which you can read here) were published as opinions. The right to express an opinion in the media is clearly a First Amendment right.
Something else will also be adjudicated if this goes to court. I think it will be akin to a trial about Trump’s fitness for office combined with a sanity hearing.
In their CNN article Brian Seltzer and Hannah Park opine on the real reason for the lawsuit (article):
Media analysts have asserted that Trump’s real intent, with some of his lawsuits, is to garner PR and publicly embarrass news outlets, with winning or losing in court being a secondary consideration at best.
Hours before Trump announced the lawsuit, Times publisher A.G. Sulzberger spoke publicly about what he called the “anti-press playbook” being deployed by “aspiring strongmen” around the world, including in the US.
Part of the playbook, he said, is to “exploit the civil courts to impose financial pressure” and “punish independent journalists.”
Trump probably doesn’t care whether or not this goes to trial. In addition to getting publicity, I think he is probably hoping for a settlement. He’s seen he can get organizations to pay up to avoid a court case. So far it looks like the defendants are not about to do this.
Still, lamentably Trump has gotten what he’s wanted. He is all over the news.
He can’t stand not to be in the news. Just this morning he announced that the next city he’s going to send federal troops to is Chicago. He saw that announcing that he was going to send them to Memphis garnered a media hohum. With one exception, the bigger the target the more Trump wants to take them on. Thus he’s going after the number one paper in the United States and the third largest city. The target he pays lip service to wanting to go after is Russia. This may be due to his not seeing Russia as an enemy.
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