NYT chief executive warns Trump is deploying 'anti-press playbook', FT says [View all]

Source: Reuters

September 18, 2025 12:17 AM EDT Updated 9 hours ago


Sept 17 (Reuters) - The chief executive officer of the New York Times (NYT.N), 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.

Read more: https://www.reuters.com/business/media-telecom/nyt-chief-executive-warns-trump-is-deploying-anti-press-playbook-ft-says-2025-09-18/