Trump refiles $19b defamation lawsuit against New York Times
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US President Donald Trump's lawsuit named The New York Times, three of its reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.
PHOTO: AFP
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MIAMI - US President Donald Trump has refiled a US$15 billion (S$19.4 billion) defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge
Mr Trump has intensified his long-established hostility towards the media since his return to the White House and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organisations he accuses of bias against him.
The Times complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Mr Trump and its excessive 85-page length.
The suit filed Oct 16 in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.
It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.
The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.
It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Mr Trump “with actual malice”.
“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.
The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than US$15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial”.
Mr Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.
In July, Mr Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch
Paramount settled Mr Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage
