Donald Trump coughs up cash to the New York Times after losing lawsuit
New York, New York - Former President Donald Trump has paid out a large ruling after his lawsuit against the New York Times over investigative reporting about his finances was tossed out.
Trump has paid up.
The former president has coughed up nearly $400,000 to the newspaper, according to The Daily Beast, after the judge overseeing the suit dismissed the case, and ordered him to pay the defense's legal fees.
Trump filed the suit in 2021 after the Times published a series of articles, which won the 2019 Pulitzer Prize, questioning his claims of being a self-made billionaire, and claimed he was an "outright fraud."
The suit claimed the reporters behind the articles - David Barstow, Susanne Craig, and Russ Buettner - hatched an "insidious plot" to obtain his tax records used to make their arguments.
The judge ultimately decided the Times' actions were justified by state constitutional law and "protected First Amendment activity," noting the outlet's "purpose in reporting on a story of a high public interest constitutes justification as a matter of law."
Journalist Susanne Craig confirmed the payment - which came out to $392,638.69 - was paid in full to the outlet, also describing Trump's lawsuit as "frivolous."
The hefty price tag comes as Trump faces a mountain of legal issues, including 91 criminal charges, as he runs for re-election.
Can Donald Trump afford his legal fees?
Last week, the judge overseeing his civil fraud trial in New York ordered Trump to pay nearly $355 million in damages on fraud charges, which will total closer to $400 million after interest.
That ruling came after a judge in a separate trial also ordered Trump to hand over $83.3 million to writer E. Jean Carroll on defamation charges, on top of the $5 million he already owed her from a previous lawsuit.
The mounting expenses have sparked widespread speculation about how he can possibly afford them, while continuing to fund his re-election effort.
Trump's MAGA base started a GoFundMe to pay off his legal bills, while the former president recently released a line of gold sneakers to raise money - which quickly sold out.
Cover photo: Collage: Nicholas Kamm / AFP & IMAGO / VWPics