President Trump is suing the New York Times and a handful of its writers for defamation, alleging that the paper has been allowed to “freely lie, smear, and defame” him for “far too long.”

In a post late Monday night, Mr. Trump wrote, “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.”

The president did not share a specific allegation of libel in his post. However, he took issue with the paper’s 2024 endorsement of Vice President Kamala Harris, and its placement on the front page, which he said was “something heretofore unheard of.”

He also said the paper has “engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the whole America First Movement, MAGA, and our nation as a whole.”

Mr. Trump said he is “proud” to hold “this once respected ‘rag’ responsible” and noted the settlement he secured in his defamation lawsuit against ABC and Disney. He also highlighted the $16 million settlement Paramount agreed to pay after he sued CBS for $20 billion for allegedly deceptively editing Ms. Harris’s October 2024 interview with “60 Minutes,” which he said was a “highly sophisticated system of document and visual alteration” and “in effect, a malicious form of defamation.”

CBS and Paramount have vigorously defended the editing of the interview and maintained that it was not edited deceptively. The settlement came amid speculation that the federal government was delaying a merger between Paramount and Skydance Media until the president’s lawsuit was resolved.

Mr. Trump ended his post by saying, “The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!”

He filed the lawsuit in Florida, where he is a resident. Legal scholars and journalists have suggested that juries in conservative states will be less sympathetic to mainstream media outlets.

A spokesman for the Times told the Sun, “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.”

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court, Middle District Florida, is focused on two “disparaging books” written by Times reporters and “three false, malicious, defamatory, and disparaging articles.” One of the articles, published on October 20, 2024, examines the various allegations against Mr. Trump throughout his life. Another article, published on October 22, 2024, shares a warning from the longest-serving chief of staff from Mr. Trump’s first term, John Kelly, who said the president would “govern like a dictator” if he were elected again.

Mr. Trump’s lawyers allege the timing of the books and articles shows they were “specifically designed to try and damage Mr. Trump’s business, personal, and political reputation, and to provide maximum dissemination of the defamatory falsehoods.”

The complaint alleges that the books and articles harmed Mr. Trump’s businesses and personal reputation. 

Mr. Trump has long threatened to sue mainstream outlets over their negative coverage. Last week, he threatened to sue the Times over its reporting on a note to Jeffrey Epstein and a signature that appears to be his. The paper said that the signature “closely resembled the signatures on personal notes that Mr. Trump wrote to New York City officials from 1987 through 2001.”

Mr. Trump has denied that he wrote the note and is also suing the Wall Street Journal, which first reported the existence of the letter in July. 

Left-wing media reporters have mocked the lawsuit. CNN’s Brian Stelter said it “reads like a pro-Trump op-ed, with page after page of gushing praise for the president” and noted that the demand for $15 billion “exceeds the entire market cap of the New York Times.”

For the president to win his lawsuit, he would have to prove in court that the reporters acted with “actual malice” in their reporting — that they knew what they were publishing was false ahead of time and proceeded with the publication anyway.