Trump threatens to sue New York Times over opinion poll

President Donald Trump says he will sue The New York Times over an unfavourable opinion poll.

Trump made the threat in a post on his Truth Social account on Thursday, suggesting that what he called “fake” surveys should be criminalised.

This comes after the publication of a New York Times/Siena University poll showing only 40 per cent approval for the president, in line with multiple other polls indicating declining support a year into his second term.

“The Times Siena Poll…will be added to my lawsuit against The Failing New York Times.

“They will be held fully responsible for all of their Radical Left lies and wrongdoing,” he wrote.

DAILY POST reports that the 79-year-old Republican has filed multiple defamation lawsuits against media companies, including the BBC, CNN, Wall Street Journal, CBS, and ABC, some of which have ended in multi-million-dollar settlements.

He first filed a $15 billion defamation suit against the Times in September 2025, claiming the leading US newspaper ran false stories to damage his 2024 presidential campaign and reputation. The complaint was thrown out by a federal judge before being refiled in amended form in October.

The Times responded by calling the new lawsuit “an attempt to stifle independent reporting” and “intimidation.”

Thursday’s Times/Siena poll was the latest opinion survey indicating that Trump’s popularity continues to slide over his handling of the economy and a military-style crackdown on illegal immigration.

Times/Siena is considered among the most accurate and high-profile US political surveys. Its latest findings were particularly notable for highlighting what the Times described as the unraveling of Trump’s winning 2024 coalition.

Young and non-white voters who turned out for Trump in the election against Democrat Kamala Harris have now shifted away from him, the poll found, leaving him with his previous core base of older and white voters.