The Trump NYT lawsuit is a $15 billion defamation case President Donald Trump filed in September 2025 against The New York Times, three of its reporters, and book publisher Penguin Random House over reporting that portrayed his business success as inherited rather than self-made. The case, Trump v. New York Times Company et al. (No. 8:25-cv-02487), is pending in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida before Senior District Judge Steven D. Merryday. As of mid-2026, the defendants’ motions to dismiss are fully briefed and awaiting a ruling, and the court has ordered the parties into mediation.
What Trump Is Suing Over
The lawsuit targets 33 statements across four publications, grouped in the complaint into five categories: “Apprentice Statements,” “Inheritance Statements,” “Business Statements,” a “Penchant Statement,” and “Survey Statements.”1The New York Times Company. Trump Libel Case Motion to Dismiss
The centerpiece is the book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success, written by Times reporters Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner and published by Penguin Random House. Drawing on Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reporting and analysis of Trump’s tax returns, the book argues that his image as a self-made billionaire was built on inherited wealth, Apprentice-era media mythmaking, and significant debt. It contends that Trump squandered roughly $1 billion (in current dollars) received through his inheritance and Apprentice income, and it details money-losing projects including Trump Tower Chicago and the Old Post Office in Washington, D.C.2NPR. Lucky Loser Dispels the Myth of Trump as a Self-Made Billionaire
Also challenged are a September 14, 2024 Times article by Buettner and Craig adapted from Lucky Loser‘s Apprentice chapters; an October 20, 2024 article by Peter Baker headlined “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment”; and an earlier 2018 Times article cited as a foundation for some of the inheritance claims.1The New York Times Company. Trump Libel Case Motion to Dismiss
Trump’s lawyers accuse the defendants of publishing “false, malicious, and defamatory statements” to undermine his 2024 candidacy and disparage his reputation as a businessman, alleging they relied on “hopelessly biased or discredited sources” and acted with actual malice. The complaint seeks $15 billion in compensatory damages plus punitive damages and a retraction. It also states that Trump’s attorneys wrote to the newspaper’s general counsel before filing to demand a retraction, and that the defendants “rejected President Trump’s reasonable demands for retraction, and instead doubled down.”3NBC News. Trump Refiles $15B Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times
Why the First Complaint Was Thrown Out
Trump filed the original 85-page lawsuit on September 15, 2025, in federal court in Tampa. Four days later, Judge Merryday struck the entire complaint. He ruled that the filing violated Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, which requires a “short and plain statement of the claim.” The formal defamation allegations did not appear until page 80; the preceding pages, the judge said, read like tributes to Trump’s business career and denunciations of the media.4Jurist. Federal Judge Tosses Trump’s $15 Billion Defamation Lawsuit Against New York Times
Merryday called the complaint “decidedly improper and impermissible” and compared it to “a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally.” He added: “A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”5CNBC. Trump New York Times Lawsuit Merryday
The judge was clear that his ruling “suggests nothing about the truth of the allegations or the validity of the claims” and dealt only with format and style. He gave Trump’s lawyers 28 days to refile and capped the new complaint at 40 pages.5CNBC. Trump New York Times Lawsuit Merryday
What Changed in the Refile
Trump refiled on October 16, 2025. The amended complaint came in at exactly 40 pages, less than half the length of the original.6The New York Times. Trump Refiled Lawsuit Against New York Times
Gone were the lengthy tributes, including a sentence that had called his 2024 election win “the greatest personal and political achievement in American history,” along with references to other media lawsuits, embedded images, and broad political narratives. Trump’s biographical details, including long lists of books and properties, were sharply condensed.7Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Trump v. New York Times Company
The legal structure also shifted. Instead of two broad defamation claims, the refile organized the case into six specific counts of defamation tied to particular statements in particular publications. Reporter Michael S. Schmidt was dropped as a defendant, and all claims tied to an article he had written were removed. A formal demand for retraction was added. The damages figure stayed at $15 billion.8Variety. Trump Refiles New York Times Defamation Lawsuit
How the Times and Penguin Random House Responded
The New York Times has called the case meritless from the start. A spokesperson said the lawsuit “lacks any legitimate legal claims and instead is an attempt to stifle and discourage independent reporting,” adding that the paper “will not be deterred by intimidation tactics” and would “stand up for journalists’ First Amendment right to ask questions on behalf of the American people.” Penguin Random House likewise called it “a meritless lawsuit” and said the company “stands by the book and its authors.”9ABC News. Judge Tosses Trump’s $15B Defamation Suit Against New York Times
On December 15, 2025, the defendants filed two motions. The first sought dismissal for improper venue, or transfer to the Southern District of New York, arguing that the reporting, writing, editing, and subject matter of the challenged statements all centered on Trump’s New York life, real estate, and involvement with The Apprentice. They argued that Trump’s ownership stake in the Sarasota-based Trump Media & Technology Group could not anchor venue, since the challenged statements never mention that company and Trump does not reside in the district.10The New York Times Company. Trump Libel Case Motion on Venue
The second motion sought dismissal for failure to state a claim. The defendants argued that the complaint does not plausibly show either the Times or Penguin Random House acted with actual malice, and that three of the six counts, which assert defamation per quod, must fail because Trump did not plead the special damages that type of claim requires.1The New York Times Company. Trump Libel Case Motion to Dismiss
The Actual Malice Standard
As a public figure, Trump faces a high legal bar. Under the 1964 Supreme Court decision New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a public figure cannot recover defamation damages without proving the defendant published a false statement with “actual malice,” meaning the publisher knew the statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for its truth. Reckless disregard requires that the publisher entertained “serious doubts as to the truth” of what was published; negligence or sloppy journalistic practice is not enough.11Constitution Annotated (Congress.gov). First Amendment – Defamation and Public Officials The plaintiff must prove actual malice by “clear and convincing evidence,” a standard tougher than the usual civil burden.12First Amendment Encyclopedia (MTSU). Actual Malice
Some observers have speculated that Trump’s media lawsuits could give the Supreme Court a vehicle to reconsider Sullivan, particularly since Justices Clarence Thomas and Neil Gorsuch have said they would revisit it. The Court signaled otherwise in early 2025: Justice Brett Kavanaugh cited Sullivan approvingly in a January 2025 decision to illustrate the difference between evidentiary standards. Legal scholars read that as a sign the framework will hold for now.13The New York Times. Supreme Court Libel Precedent
Where the Case Stands Now
The amended complaint remains the operative filing. In March 2026, Magistrate Judge Natalie Hirt Adams denied Trump’s motion for venue-related discovery, finding it largely moot after the parties agreed to submit stipulations of fact, and denied the defendants’ motion to stay all discovery.7Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Trump v. New York Times Company
On March 23, 2026, Judge Merryday appointed mediator Joseph H. Varner III and ordered the parties into mediation, with a conference scheduled for early April 2026. Trump filed his responses opposing both motions to dismiss on April 29, 2026, along with a “Joint Stipulated Facts” exhibit addressing venue.7Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Trump v. New York Times Company As of June 2026, the motions to dismiss for improper venue and for failure to state a claim are fully briefed and awaiting Judge Merryday’s ruling. The case remains open.14PACER Monitor. Trump v. New York Times Company et al
How It Fits Trump’s Broader Media Litigation
The Times case sits alongside a string of defamation actions Trump filed during and after the 2024 campaign. In December 2024, ABC News and parent company the Walt Disney Company settled a defamation suit for $15 million, directed to Trump’s future presidential library, after anchor George Stephanopoulos stated on air that Trump had been found liable for “rape” when the jury’s actual finding was “sexual abuse.” In July 2025, Paramount Global paid $16 million to settle a $20 billion suit over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris.15First Amendment Watch. A Timeline of Trump Legal Fights With Media Organizations Meta separately agreed to pay $22 million to settle a case tied to Trump’s deplatforming after the January 6, 2021, Capitol breach.16Brookings Institution. Trump’s CBS Lawsuit Ties Media Freedom to FCC’s Regulatory Power
Trump also filed a $10 billion suit in July 2025 against the Wall Street Journal, its publisher Dow Jones, News Corp, and Rupert Murdoch over an article about a letter allegedly bearing Trump’s signature found in a 2003 birthday book compiled for Jeffrey Epstein. A federal judge in Miami dismissed that complaint in April 2026 for failure to plausibly show actual malice; Trump refiled an amended version on May 28, 2026.17Reuters. Trump Refiles $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against WSJ Over Report on Epstein Ties
Katie Fallow of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University described the Times lawsuit as an attempt to “weaponize defamation law to silence legitimate journalistic criticism and accountability reporting” and called the complaint “frivolous on its face.”18Knight First Amendment Institute. Trump Lawsuit Against New York Times Weaponizes Defamation Law to Silence Critics Other legal analysts have said that even unsuccessful cases impose heavy legal costs on newsrooms and can chill aggressive reporting on powerful figures.19First Amendment Encyclopedia (MTSU). The Case That Saved the Press and Why Trump Wants It Gone