President Donald Trump won a procedural reprieve in his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times on July 27, when U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday declined to dismiss the case outright but ordered Trump’s legal team to file an amended complaint by August 27.
Judge Merryday deferred on the Times’ motion to dismiss, allowing Trump another chance to revise his defamation suit. The judge did not elaborate on his reasoning in the brief order, but said the amended complaint can exceed his previous 40-page limit if it comprises “factual allegations consistent with the applicable rules.” The Times will have three weeks to respond once the new complaint is filed.
Trump filed the original $15 billion lawsuit in September 2025, naming the Times, Penguin Random House, and four Times journalists. He alleged the defendants defamed him by publishing articles and a book titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” ahead of the 2024 election. The complaint claimed the coverage was designed to damage his reputation and sabotage his campaign.
In September 2025, Judge Merryday struck down that initial 85-page complaint, calling it “tedious and burdensome” and saying it lacked a “short and plain statement of the claim.” He gave Trump 28 days to file a shorter version. Trump refiled in October 2025 with a complaint under 40 pages, but the Times moved to dismiss that version as well, arguing it failed to state a valid defamation claim.
Legal experts have consistently questioned Trump’s chances of success. Under the 1964 Supreme Court precedent New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, public figures seeking to win a defamation case must prove the defendant either knowingly published false statements or published them with “reckless disregard” for the truth. Katie Fallow, deputy litigation director of the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University, said the complaint reads more like “a very long Truth Social post” than a proper legal filing. Rebecca Tushnet, the Frank Stanton Professor of the First Amendment at Harvard Law School, said the suit “is a statement of contempt for truth, the American public, the judicial process,” and appears designed to threaten criticism rather than pursue a genuine legal remedy.
Trump has a history of filing large defamation suits against media outlets. In December 2024, ABC News settled a lawsuit for $15 million after anchor George Stephanopoulos made an incorrect on-air statement about Trump. In July 2025, Paramount settled a Trump lawsuit for $16 million. However, legal experts note that the Times, primarily a journalism organization without competing business interests like theme parks or studios, has a track record of winning court victories against Trump and is unlikely to settle.
The amended complaint is due August 27, 2026. If Trump files by that deadline, the legal battle is expected to continue through the federal court system in Florida’s Middle District.
Sources
- Forbes — Judge Merryday’s July 27, 2026 order deferring dismissal and requiring an amended complaint by August 27
- Bloomberg Law — Details of the judge’s order and the August 27 deadline
- Poynter — Expert analysis from David M. Snyder (University of South Florida media law professor) and Katie Fallow (Knight First Amendment Institute), background on Trump’s forum choice and the judge’s reputation, and settlement history with ABC News and Paramount
- CNN — Expert commentary from Rebecca Tushnet (Harvard Law School), RonNell Andersen Jones, Jonathan Peters (University of Georgia), and press freedom advocates on the legal hurdles and the suit’s purpose
- PBS NewsHour / AP — Details of Judge Merryday’s September 2025 dismissal of the original 85-page complaint and the “tedious and burdensome” language
- The Guardian — Timeline of Trump’s October 2025 refiling under 40 pages
