U.S President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, just weeks after a federal judge dismissed his earlier case.
The original lawsuit was thrown out in September by District Judge Steven Merryday, who criticized its overly lengthy 85-page filing and what he described as “excessive praise” of Trump, as well as a lack of legal clarity.
In a revised version submitted on Thursday in a Florida court, the new filing has been trimmed to 40 pages and sharpens its legal focus.
The suit targets The New York Times, three of its reporters, and publisher Penguin Random House, accusing them of publishing false and malicious content intended to damage Trump’s reputation.
At the heart of the lawsuit are two New York Times articles and a book the former president says contain defamatory statements published with “actual malice.”
Trump is asking the court for no less than $15 billion in compensatory damages, in addition to punitive damages to be determined at trial.
According to the lawsuit:
“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades before entering the White House.”
This is not Trump’s first legal action against media outlets.
Over the past year, he has launched multiple lawsuits, including a $10 billion claim against media mogul Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal over reports connecting him to disgraced financier Jeffrey Epstein.
In July, CBS News settled a separate defamation case for $16 million, after Trump alleged that its “60 Minutes” program unfairly edited an interview to benefit Kamala Harris, his opponent in the 2024 election.
Trump, who has frequently attacked the media, continues to accuse major news organizations of bias and misinformation, especially in the lead-up to the 2028 presidential race.
