Legal News

Trump Cries ?Unfair? When Judge Tosses Lawsuit Against NYT Editor

By Amir Efrati

We’ll admit we haven’t read TrumpNation, a New York Times editor’s 2005 book about “the Donald.” But now we’re thinking about it.

The book drove the Donald bananas. That’s because the author, Timothy O’Brien, cited three anonymous sources as saying he was worth between $150 million and $250 million, contrary to his own claim that he was a billionaire. Trump sued for defamation, saying the book cost him future deals.

On Wednesday, Camden County superior court judge Michele Fox ruled that the famed real-estate personality was not a victim of malice. Here are stories from WSJ and NYT. (The judge made an oral ruling; the transcript isn’t available yet.)

In a statement, Mr. O’Brien said, “I am deeply gratified that the court’s decision has vindicated the reporting in TrumpNation.”

Mr. Trump said he will appeal. “It tells you how unfair the libel laws are,” Mr. Trump said. “We proved our case 100 percent….Unfortunately, the court's decision today condones the gross negligence, and lack of professionalism and bias on the part of a reporter."

Here’s a must-read WSJ Page One story from earlier this year, in which Trump, according to a 2007 deposition in the O’Brien case, is quoted as saying his “net worth fluctuates, and it goes up and down with markets and with attitudes and with feelings, even my own feeling.”

In the deposition, Mr. Trump said that his 2007 estimate of his net worth — over $4 billion — is “a very conservative number, in my opinion.” He also said $6 billion is a good number, counting his brand value. In an interview with WSJ in 2009, he said he was worth $5 billion, not counting brand value.

Full post as published by Law Blog - WSJ.com on July 16, 2009 (boomark / email).