Donald Trump’s presidency is one that saw him butt heads with several media outlets, one being The New York Times. Despite Trump no longer holding the title of commander-in-chief, his spats with the Times continue, and it’s now heading into the courtrooms.
On Tuesday, Trump filed a lawsuit against his niece, Mary Trump, the newspaper, and three Times reporters over a 2018 story on his tax records. The suit argues that the parties involved “engaged in an insidious plot” to obtain sensitive documents and were “motivated by a personal vendetta.”
Trump filed the lawsuit in New York’s Dutchess County and publicly stated the three Times reporters in Susanne Craig, David Barstow, and Russell Buettner. All three put together to publish a series in 2018 based on Trump’s tax and financial records.
Furthermore, the former president claims that the three reporters “attempted to capitalize on their receipt of the confidential record through their publication of various news articles.”
Meanwhile, Trump argues that his niece engaged in “an ill-conceived effort to profit from these same events” by publishing her memoir, “Too Much and Never Enough: How My Family Created the World’s Most Dangerous Man.”
In response to the lawsuit, Trump’s niece spoke to The Daily Beast to comment on the matter. “I think he is a f—ing loser, and he is going to throw anything against the wall he can,” Trump said.
“It’s desperation. The walls are closing in and he is throwing anything against the wall that will stick. As is always the case with Donald, he’ll try and change the subject.”
The Times also provided a comment on the lawsuit through the spokesperson.
“The Times’s coverage of Donald Trump’s taxes helped inform citizens through meticulous reporting on a subject of overriding public interest,” a Times spokesperson stated. “This lawsuit is an attempt to silence independent news organizations, and we plan to vigorously defend against it.”