Former U.S. President Donald Trump has refiled his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, weeks after a federal judge dismissed the initial version for being excessively long and filled with self-praising language.
The new filing, submitted on Thursday, October 16, in a Florida court, represents Trump’s latest move in his ongoing battle against media organizations he accuses of spreading false and biased information.
According to court documents obtained by AFP, the revised complaint spans 40 pages — less than half the 85-page version Judge Steven Merryday rejected in September, criticizing it for “florid writing” and redundancy.
The updated suit targets what Trump calls “false, defamatory, and malicious publications,” including two New York Times articles and a book released by Penguin Random House. Named as defendants are the newspaper, three of its journalists, and the publishing house.
Trump’s attorneys argue that the publications “wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, built over decades,” and accuse the defendants of acting “with actual malice,” a key threshold in U.S. defamation law.
The former president is seeking at least $15 billion in compensatory damages, plus additional punitive damages to be determined at trial.
Trump’s legal team described the lawsuit as part of his broader fight against what they call “media corruption and political persecution.” Throughout his political career, Trump has frequently labeled major media outlets — including The New York Times, CNN, and The Washington Post — as “fake news.”
Since his return to the White House, Trump has launched multiple defamation suits. In July 2025, he filed a $10 billion claim against Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for allegedly linking him to a letter sent to convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein. That same month, he reportedly secured a $16 million settlement with Paramount Global over a 60 Minutes segment he said was deceptively edited to favor Vice President Kamala Harris during the 2024 campaign.
While critics view Trump’s frequent lawsuits as attempts to pressure and silence the press, his supporters argue they are legitimate efforts to hold media organizations accountable for spreading false and politically motivated stories.
The New York Times has not yet commented on the refiling.
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