CAMDEN, N.J. – A courtroom victory here could put The Donald in the black for months. Donald Trump has sued New York Times reporter Tim O’Brien and Time Warner Book Group for $2.5 billion in Camden County Court, claiming O’Brien defamed Trump by calling him, among other things, “the walking embodiment of financial pornography,” in O’Brien’s book, “Trump Nation: The Art of Being The Donald.”

Trump says O’Brien repeated the libel in a New York Times article containing excerpts from the book, and in interviews. He says O’Brien and Warner “have knowingly made egregiously false and reprehensible statements about Trump, his family, his personal life and his business dealings, including statements grossly misrepresenting Trump’s net worth, business acumen and … uniquely enormous success.” For instance, O’Brien wrote that Trump is worth only $150 million to $200 million, and is “not remotely close to being a billionaire.” Trump claims that O’Brien and Warner “deliberately chose to ignore … voluminous and comprehensive financial information … which confirmed conclusively that Trump’s net worth was many billions of dollars” – $2.7 billion, conservatively, give or take a few million, Trump says. He claims these “defamatory statements about Trump’s net worth” are intended to damage Trump’s reputation, business and the Trump brand name, a “brand name synonymous with extraordinary business acumen, a luxury lifestyle, and uniquely enormous success.” The alleged libels went so far as to claim “that Trump lies about his assets (‘He adds zeros here and there’)”, the complaint states. These statements are from the first 6 pages of the 27-page complaint. Represented by Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, Trump seeks $2.5 billion damages for slander and libel.