Trump's Ego-Stroking New York Times Lawsuit Proves How Desperate Donald Is To Be Liked

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While Donald Trump may have transformed from real estate mogul and reality TV star into president, what has stayed consistent is his desire to be liked and be the one in charge, and we can see that in his latest lawsuit against The New York Times. Trump has a long history of suing media outlets, and he posted about the $15 billion legal action on his Truth Social page. The lawsuit says that the defendants are working to "tarnish his legacy of achievement, destroy his reputation as a successful businessman, and subject him to humiliation and ridicule."

One of his biggest issues with the paper seems to be that it endorsed Kamala Harris in 2024. On September 30, 2024, The New York Times editorial board wrote an op-ed that declared that Harris was "the only patriotic choice for president." However, it does not, as Trump seems to claim in his Truth Social post, appear on the front page of the print paper that day. And even though Trump won the 2024 election, he still seems salty about the newspaper promoting his rival. 

Along with endorsing Harris, one of the articles that angered Trump was titled "The Star-Making Machine That Created 'Donald Trump,'" which talks about his time on "The Apprentice." But apparently not in glowing enough terms. According to the lawsuit filed in Florida, "The Apprentice" was a success "thanks solely to President Trump's sui generis charisma and unique business acumen." It's rave review continues, "'The Apprentice' represented the cultural magnitude of President Trump's singular brilliance, which captured the zeitgeist of our time." We've heard Trump brag about himself before, and this is right up there as proof of how he wants people to see him.

Donald Trump's lawsuit also names Penguin Random House and some specific writers as defendants. The book that really got Trump riled up is "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success," and he doesn't appear to feel that his business genius and charisma were accurately represented in its pages, nor in those of The New York Times. He also takes issue with the characterization that Mark Burnett, reality TV producer for "The Apprentice," "discovered" him; the lawsuit says the publications are making it seem as though "Burnett's decision to work with President Trump on 'The Apprentice' was on par with Christopher Columbus discovering the New World circa 1492." This idea that Burnett was instrumental in helping craft and boost Trump's image on "The Apprentice" has been repeated in other outlets beyond The New York Times.

People on X had thoughts about Trump's decision to sue. One person didn't see it as much of a surprise, writing, "His combover eludes to his vanity and the deeply flawed man he really is beneath the makeup. A pathetic, petty little narcissist. His only skill is his shameless self promotion." Another said, "Trump's $15B lawsuit against the NYT is just another billionaire tantrum to bully the free press." Others were baffled by the amount, with one commenter asking, "Does the next person he sees, get sued for 10 zillion?"

Supreme Court precedent says that any defamatory statements must be confirmed to have been made with actual malice, according to PBS. Only time will tell if the suit continues; the paperwork filed on September 15 in a Tampa court says there's a request for a jury trial.