New York Times executive editor on Trump suit: ‘He’s wrong … and we’ll win’

New York Times executive editor Joe Kahn expressed confidence the newspaper will defeat a defamation suit brought by President Trump this week.

“He’s wrong on the facts; he’s wrong on the law. And we’ll fight it, and we’ll win,” Kahn said at an Axios Media Trends Live event Thursday.

Asked if the Times would ever pay to settle the case, Kahn firmly said “no.”

Trump sued the news organization Monday, accusing the paper and four of its reporters of defamation and libel.

The Times, Trump’s attorneys alleged, engaged in a “decades-long pattern” of “intentional and malicious defamation against” the president, citing its reporting on the 2024 election and books published by several of its journalists.

In order to show defamation, the president will have to prove that the paper’s journalists acted with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth as it covered him.

In a statement after the suit was filed, the Times said the president’s claims have “no merit.”

“It lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting,” a Times spokesperson said. “The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics.”