{
  "id": 95,
  "slug": "2025-trump-sues-new-york-times-15-billion",
  "title": "Trump files, then refiles, $15 billion defamation suit against the New York Times",
  "occurred_on": "2025-09-15",
  "occurred_on_precision": "day",
  "ended_on": null,
  "jurisdiction": "US",
  "country": "US",
  "continent": "north-america",
  "level": "national",
  "type": null,
  "tactic_primary": "lawsuits_against_press",
  "leader_slug": "donald-trump",
  "issue_of_the_day": "The suit named Times articles and a book published in the run-up to the 2024 election, including reporting referencing a note Trump was said to have given Jeffrey Epstein, and the paper's endorsement of Kamala Harris.",
  "outcome": "ongoing",
  "outcome_on": "2025-10-16",
  "outcome_note": "A judge dismissed the original complaint for violating pleading rules; Trump refiled a shortened, six-claim complaint in October 2025.",
  "granularity": "granular",
  "era": "2020s",
  "summary": "President Trump sued The New York Times and four of its journalists for $15 billion over articles and a book published before the 2024 election; a judge dismissed the sprawling original complaint for violating basic pleading rules, and Trump refiled a shorter version a month later.{c:370}",
  "what_happened": "On September 15, 2025, Trump filed a defamation suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against The New York Times and four of its journalists, seeking $15 billion over several articles and a book published ahead of the 2024 election, calling the paper a \"virtual 'mouthpiece' for the radical left Democrat[ic] Party.\" On September 19, 2025, Judge Steven Merryday dismissed the complaint, finding it violated federal court rules requiring a short, plain statement of the claims rather than the lengthy document Trump's lawyers had filed. Trump refiled a condensed, forty-page complaint organized around six specific defamation claims on October 16, 2025, and the Times waived formal service, allowing the case to proceed before the same judge.{c:367}{c:368}{c:369}{c:370}{c:487}",
  "stated_justification": "Trump accused the Times of \"spreading false and defamatory content\" about him, his family and his businesses.{c:367}",
  "effect_on_reporting": "A sitting president sought $15 billion from one of the country's largest newspapers over its pre-election coverage, and even after the original complaint's dismissal for improper pleading, the litigation continued into 2026.{c:367}{c:368}{c:369}{c:370}",
  "unknowns": null,
  "status": "in_effect",
  "status_updated_on": "2026-09-22",
  "external_ids": {},
  "illustration_key": null,
  "pub_state": "published",
  "published_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:34Z",
  "reviewed_on": "2026-09-22",
  "next_review_on": "2026-12-22",
  "revision": 6,
  "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:28Z",
  "updated_at": "2026-09-23T00:38:49Z",
  "stage": "pressure",
  "ladder_note": null,
  "country_name": "United States",
  "tactics": [
    "lawsuits_against_press"
  ],
  "leader": {
    "slug": "donald-trump",
    "name": "Donald Trump",
    "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/leaders/donald-trump"
  },
  "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-sues-new-york-times-15-billion",
  "page_meta": {
    "published": "2026-09-22T23:11:34Z",
    "reviewed": "2026-09-22",
    "sources": 2,
    "status": "in_effect",
    "statusAsOf": "2026-09-22",
    "unknowns": null
  },
  "actors": [
    {
      "slug": "donald-trump",
      "name": "Donald Trump",
      "kind": "person",
      "role": "ordered",
      "role_at_time": null,
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/actors/donald-trump"
    }
  ],
  "outlets": [
    {
      "slug": "new-york-times",
      "name": "The New York Times",
      "relation": "affected",
      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/outlets/new-york-times"
    }
  ],
  "journalists": [],
  "cases": [],
  "related": [],
  "events": [],
  "claims": [
    {
      "id": 367,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 95,
      "field": "stated_justification",
      "value": "Times called a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party",
      "statement": "Trump accused the Times of acting as a mouthpiece for the Democratic Party and spreading false content about him.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 274,
      "evidence_quote": "virtual 'mouthpiece' for the radical left Democrat[ic] Party",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-16",
      "method": "outlet_report",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
      "superseded_by": null,
      "supersede_reason": null,
      "batch_label": "v2-research-2026-09-22",
      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:29Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 274,
        "url": "https://euronews.com/2025/09/16/trump-files-15-billion-defamation-lawsuit-against-new-york-times",
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        "title": "Trump files $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times",
        "publisher": "Euronews",
        "published_on": "2025-09-16",
        "link_state": "redirected",
        "link_state_since": "2026-09-22T23:23:23Z",
        "wayback_url": null,
        "wayback_saved_at": null
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/367"
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    {
      "id": 368,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 95,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Complaint dismissed for improper pleading",
      "statement": "The court found the complaint failed to provide a short and plain statement of the claims as required by federal rules.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 275,
      "evidence_quote": "a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.",
      "evidence_date": "2026-05-01",
      "method": "court_record",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
      "supersedes_id": null,
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      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:30Z",
      "source": {
        "id": 275,
        "url": "https://clearinghouse.net/case/46972/",
        "final_url": "https://clearinghouse.net/case/46972/",
        "title": "Trump v. New York Times Company, 8:25-cv-02487 (M.D. Fla.)",
        "publisher": "Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse",
        "published_on": "2026-05-01",
        "link_state": "live",
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      "url": "https://thewaronnews.com/claims/368"
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    {
      "id": 369,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 95,
      "field": "status",
      "value": "Complaint also violated conciseness rule",
      "statement": "The court also found the pleading failed the rule requiring each claim to be simple, concise and direct.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 275,
      "evidence_quote": "[e]ach averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise, and direct.",
      "evidence_date": "2026-05-01",
      "method": "court_record",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
      "status": "current",
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      "id": 370,
      "subject_type": "incident",
      "subject_id": 95,
      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2025-10-16",
      "statement": "Trump refiled a condensed forty-page complaint with six specific defamation claims after the original was dismissed.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 275,
      "evidence_quote": "condensed to exactly 40 pages and reorganized into six specific defamation claims",
      "evidence_date": "2026-05-01",
      "method": "court_record",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "medium",
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      "created_at": "2026-09-22T23:11:31Z",
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      "id": 487,
      "subject_type": "incident",
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      "field": "occurred_on",
      "value": "2025-09-15",
      "statement": "Trump filed the suit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida on September 15, 2025; the docket entry for the complaint is dated 09/15/2025.",
      "attribution": null,
      "source_id": 275,
      "evidence_quote": "On September 15, 2025, Donald Trump filed this lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida against the New York Times Company, Penguin Random House LLC, and individual authors.",
      "evidence_date": "2025-09-15",
      "method": "court_record",
      "verified_at": "2026-09-22",
      "confidence": "high",
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  "license": {
    "name": "CC BY 4.0",
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  "cite_as": "Trump files, then refiles, $15 billion defamation suit against the New York Times. The War On News, thewaronnews.com. https://thewaronnews.com/incidents/2025-trump-sues-new-york-times-15-billion. Retrieved 2026-09-23."
}