With just two months until Donald Trump returns to the White House, the president-elect has launched a wave of lawsuits against media outlets and publishers that have criticized him.
These legal actions have sparked growing concerns about what a second Trump term could mean for press freedom, as the former president intensifies his well-known hostility towards the media.
In his victory speech last week, Trump referred to the press as the “enemy camp,” signaling potential challenges ahead for journalists.
According to a report by the Columbia Journalism Review (CJR), Trump’s lawyer Edward Andrew Paltzik recently sent a demand letter to The New York Times and Penguin Random House, seeking $10 billion in damages over allegedly defamatory articles.
This move is part of a broader series of lawsuits targeting various media companies that Trump accuses of political bias.
The letter, reviewed by CJR, names journalists Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner, accusing them of making “false and defamatory statements” about Trump.
It also labels The New York Times as a “mouthpiece of the Democratic Party,” accusing it of spreading “industrial-scale libel against political opponents.”
The legal notice highlights two specific articles by Buettner and Craig linked to their book, Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.
It also references a 20 October piece by Baker titled “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment,” and a 22 October article by Schmidt titled “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
In response to these accusations, The New York Times redirected Paltzik to Penguin Random House regarding claims about Buettner and Craig’s book, and stated it stands by the reporting of its journalists, according to a source familiar with the situation.
CJR also reported that on 5 November, Trump campaign co-chief Chris LaCivita’s lawyers sent a letter to the Daily Beast, demanding corrections to articles alleging LaCivita raised $22 million for Trump’s re-election.
The Daily Beast added an editor’s note clarifying that the correct figure was $19.2 million and specifying that the payments went to LaCivita’s LLC, not him personally.
Despite the correction, Trump’s campaign was dissatisfied, arguing that the editor’s note did not address the broader narrative of the story, which they claimed wrongly depicted LaCivita as misusing campaign funds.
The follow-up legal letter described the reporting as “malicious and irresponsible.”
In addition to targeting The New York Times, Penguin Random House, and the Daily Beast, Trump and his legal team have also filed lawsuits against CBS News.
The lawsuit claims that a 7 October interview with Kamala Harris on 60 Minutes was edited in a way that amounted to “election interference,” seeking $10 billion in damages. CBS has dismissed the claims as “completely without merit,” pledging to “vigorously defend” against the accusations.
Around the same time, Trump lodged a complaint with the Federal Election Commission against the Washington Post, accusing the outlet of providing illegal in-kind contributions to Harris’s campaign.
The Washington Post, which opted not to endorse any candidate this election cycle, rejected these allegations as “improper” and “without merit.”
In light of Trump’s re-election and his escalating attacks on the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern, labeling his threats as a “clear and direct danger to media freedom.”
CPJ warned that the hostile environment toward journalists witnessed during Trump’s first term is likely to persist, posing significant risks to media outlets both in the U.S. and globally.
Similarly, Reporters Without Borders issued a statement calling Trump’s attacks on the press an assault on the public’s right to information.
They urged the new administration to adopt a more respectful stance toward the media and to implement measures to safeguard journalists and support a diverse and robust press environment.