Trump Threatens New York Times, Penguin Random House over Critical Coverage - Columbia Journalism Review

The letter, addressed to lawyers at the New York Times and Penguin Random House, arrived a week before the election. Attached was a discursive ten-page legal threat from an attorney for Donald Trump that demanded $10 billion in damages over "false and defamatory statements" contained in articles by Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner.

It singles out two stories coauthored by Buettner and Craig that related to their book on Trump and his financial dealings, Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, released on September 17. It also highlighted an October 20 story headlined "For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment" by Baker and an October 22 piece by Schmidt, "As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator."