How Donald Trump's Years-Long Feud With Letitia James Really Began

Donald Trump has been fuming over Letitia James for far longer than most people realize. Around four years before New York's Attorney General leveled a $250 million fraud case against the Republican president, which naturally became one of the biggest lawsuits brought against the Trump family, she made it clear that she was no fan of his. While campaigning for the 2018 New York Attorney General Democratic primary, James referred to Trump as a "con man" (via AP) and an "illegitimate president," as the BBC reported at the time. After ultimately clinching the win, she reassured her supporters that she would do everything in her power to keep him in check. The Democratic politician also revealed that she intended to start her probe into the former "Apprentice" host by looking into Trump's many questionable real estate deals. 

Over the following year, James started taking concrete steps to make good on her promise, and Trump was none too pleased. The divisive leader took to X, formerly known as Twitter, to make himself appear like the victim in the situation, complaining, "It is very hard and expensive to live in New York. Governor Andrew Cuomo uses his Attorney General as a bludgeoning tool for his own purposes. They sue on everything, always in search of a crime." In response, the New York Attorney General took to X herself to remind the controversial politician that her job required her to look into matters that violated state law, cheekily adding, "Make no mistake: No one is above the law, not even the President. P.S. My name is Letitia James. (You can call me Tish)."

In December 2021, Donald Trump sued New York Attorney General Letitia James because he felt that she had ulterior motives for looking into his business dealings. Among other things, the lawsuit alleged, "Her mission is guided solely by political animus and a desire to harass, intimidate, and retaliate against a private citizen who she views as a political opponent." Trump proclaimed that the Democratic politician's probes were nothing more than a "frivolous witch hunt." The tides didn't turn in the president's favor in 2022, however, as his lawsuit was tossed in May, and in September, Trump was hit with James' $250 million fraud lawsuit. Shortly after news of the filing broke, the outspoken politician took to Truth Social to accuse James, who is a Black woman, of being racist.

Moreover, he believed that her lawsuit wouldn't have seen the light of day if she weren't faring poorly in her re-election campaign at the time. By the end of the following year, Trump's lawyer, Alina Habba, had started lobbing some intense accusations at James. Speaking to the Daily Mail in November 2023, she made the ill-founded claim that the New York Attorney General was trying to extort her boss. The president's worst lawyer then topped that wild allegation the following month by professing that James was "trying to kill the Trump family, their organization and the presidency," (via The Independent). Unsurprisingly, their feud showed no signs of fizzling out in the following years. In fact, James even inspired one of Trump's most memorable meltdowns of 2025.