Overview
- An 85-page complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for Florida’s Middle District seeks at least $15 billion in compensatory damages plus punitive damages.
- Defendants include The New York Times Company, reporters Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt, and publisher Penguin Random House.
- The filing cites three 2024 Times articles and the book Lucky Loser, alleging they are part of a decades-long pattern of intentional, malicious defamation.
- The New York Times called the lawsuit meritless and an attempt to discourage independent reporting, and Penguin Random House said it stands by the book and its authors.
- The suit follows recent Times reporting about a lewd Epstein-linked note that Trump denies authoring and extends a pattern of Trump’s media litigation, including settlements with ABC/Disney and CBS/Paramount and an ongoing case against The Wall Street Journal.