Sept. 16 (UPI) — President Donald Trump filed a suit for defamation and libel against The New York Times, seeking $15 billion in damages over alleged false statements about him, family members and his businesses and accusing the newspaper of flagrant political bias.

Court records indicated that the lawsuit was filed in federal court in Tampa, Fla., on Monday.

Trump took to his Truth Social platform to accuse the newspaper of being a “virtual mouthpiece for the Radical Left Democratic Party,” but did not give details of the alleged falsehoods.

The action for damages amounting to more than the full market capitalization of The New York Times Company, was, Trump said, motivated by an imperative to “restore integrity to journalism.”

“The New York Times has been allowed to freely lie, smear, and defame me for far too long, and that stops, NOW!” said Trump.”

He also criticized the paper’s endorsement of Kamala Harris for president in the 2024 election.

However, experts said it was another instance of a strategy of using lawsuits of doubtful legality to gag critical voices and suppress free speech.

Defamation and libel allegations are incredibly difficult to make stick in court because of the burden of proving “actual malice” — showing the defendant was aware the statements were untrue, or was reckless with regard to their veracity.

Endorsing a candidate running for political office is not defamatory.

The move came a week after Trump vowed to sue The New York Times over stories it ran about a letter he is alleged to have written to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and two months after he sued the Wall Street Journal over the same letter, a note consisting of the outline of a naked woman with text printed above his alleged signature.

The note, written for Epstein’s 50th birthday, dates from 2003, before Epstein was convicted.

Trump has won multi-million dollar settlements from ABC News and CBS News, in December and July, respectively, prompting groups representing the journalism industry to warn that opting to settle out of court was only fueling Trump’s “lawfare.”

Addressing the Reporters & Editors 50th anniversary gala in New York on Monday, before the latest suit was filed, NYT publisher A G Sulzberger warned of a growing so-called “anti-press playbook” trend among “aspiring strongmen” globally of leveraging civil law to exert financial pressure on media.