For the third time in his presidency, Donald Trump has filed another complaint against the New York Times (NYT) for defamation. The president has claimed that multiple reporters of The Times have deliberately defamed him in their 2024 book, “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success,” as well as in multiple articles written before the 2024 election.
Every time the president presents a new lawsuit against the New York Times or any other news publication, they are dismissed by judges due to the First Amendment, which states the right of a free press, which is constantly under fire by Trump. Since the start of his second term, the president has been increasing the restrictions on major news publications. In recent months, he has banned the Associated Press from key white house areas, cut funding for multiple public broadcasters like NPR or PBS, verbally attacked journalists at rallies, and sued the Wall Street Journal for over 10 billion dollars. These attacks are not only concerning the basis of First Amendment rights, but raise the question: why does Trump not want people reporting about him?
Trump is quite possibly the most popular topic for every news publication in the country, from his outrageous claims —like his more recent claims that acetaminophen causes autism despite no scientific backing— to his insulting comments about political opponents or anyone who does not agree with him. So for him to restrict press access to the white house and to him, is harming a major part of the news in the US.
As for his NYT lawsuit, Trump claims that the statements made about him are defamatory, but as president, it is nearly impossible for him to prove that they were truly slanderous comments. Before any decision could be made, though, the US district court judge threw away Trump’s 85-page complaint, citing that it was far too long. It is well-known across the country that Trump is famous for his excessively long and extravagant speeches and complaints.
The president continues to threaten the press seemingly every day, pushing against the First Amendment right that protects every person’s freedom of speech. He has no regard for the voice of the people, and seemingly only wants news publications to release whatever information that paints him in a good light.
It’s not just freedom of the press that the president tries to infringe, but of speech as well. In a press conference on Oct. 8, President Trump even claimed that he “took the freedom of speech away” in relation to flag burning. While not quite journalism, flag-burning is just as protected by the Supreme Court and the Constitution. Trump continues to push his power and go against the Constitution, especially the Bill of Rights, one of the first few documents made to protect against tyranny.
Trump’s persistence has been met every time with backlash, and it can only be hoped that the backlash he faces both stops his unconstitutional attempts at taking rights away from Americans as well as reminds America and its citizens of the powers that are put in place to protect everyone from authoritarian rule.
