NYT chief executive warns Trump is deploying ‘anti-press playbook'

18/9/2025 16:41

The chief executive officer of the New York Times, Meredith Kopit Levien, said the company would "not be cowed" by U.S. President Donald Trump’s $15-billion lawsuit against the newspaper, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.



The suit is the latest in Trump's flurry of legal attacks on media during his second term, including a $10-billion defamation case against the Wall Street Journal in July.



The lawsuit was legally baseless, Levien told a Financial Times conference in remarks the paper called her first public utterance on the matter.



"The lawsuit has no merit. It lacks any legitimate legal claims. I believe its purpose is to stifle independent journalism, to deter the kind of fact-based reporting that the Times and other institutions are known for."



She added, "There is an anti-press playbook at this point . . . The New York Times will not be cowed by this."



The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.



In Monday's suit, Trump accused the paper of maliciously publishing articles and a book filled with "repugnant distortions and fabrications about President Trump".