The New York Times issued a scathing statement in response to President Donald Trump refiling his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against them.
“As we said when this was first filed and again after the judge’s ruling to strike it: this lawsuit has no merit,” a spokesperson for The New York Times said on Thursday evening. “Nothing has changed today. This is merely an attempt to stifle independent reporting and generate PR attention, but The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics.”
Trump refiled the suit — which was initially rejected by a federal judge back in September due to its length — in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District in Tampa, Florida Thursday. In the amended lawsuit, the president accuses the outlet of defamation and offered up two articles by the Times from 2024, as well as a book written by the publication’s reporters, as evidence.
Reporters Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner and Peter Baker were all named as defendants alongside The New York Times. Michael S. Schmidt, who was named in Trump’s initial suit, was not named as a defendant in the amended document.
Penguin Random House was also named as a defendant in the amended complaint, as they were the publisher of “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success,” penned by the aforementioned Craig and Buettner.
The president is seeking $15 billion, as well as punitive damages, in his lawsuit.
On the decision to refile, a spokesperson from Trump’s legal team shared: “President Trump is continuing to hold the Fake News responsible through this powerhouse lawsuit against the New York Times, its reporters and Penguin Random House.”
Trump first sued the Times for $15 billion back in September, but a judge subsequently dismissed the 85-page complaint. However, the judge did give Trump’s legal team a near one-month window to refile, demanding the suit be no more than 40 pages. The refiled suit is exactly 40 pages.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a
passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park
Speakers’ Corner,” wrote Judge Steven D. Merryday at the time.
Trump’s Times lawsuit comes on the heels of similar ones he’s filed against other outlets, including ABC News, CBS News and The Wall Street Journal.
In December 2024, ABC agreed to pay $15 million, plus $1 million in legal fees, after Trump sued the network for incorrect claims made about the E. Jean Carroll civil case.
CBS’s parent company, Paramount Global, settled with Trump for $16 million back in July 2025, after the latter accused the network of favorably editing a Kamala Harris interview to help her chances in the 2024 Presidential election.
