Filed Date: Sept. 15, 2025
Case Ongoing
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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. Plaintiff, represented by private counsel, alleged defamation by defendants against him during the 2024 U.S. presidential election. Filing under joint claims of defamation per se and defamation per quod, Trump sought monetary damages to the tune of fifteen billion dollars, plus any additional punitive damages the court found appropriate. The case was assigned to Judge Steven Douglas Merryday.
On September 19, 2025, Judge Merryday struck the complaint. The court found that the complaint, which proceeded for eighty pages before stating a claim for relief, was in violation of Federal Rules of Civil Procedure Rule 8(a), since it did not include “a short and plain statement of the claim showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” The court wrote the complaint also seemed contrary to Rule 8(e)(1)“[e]ach averment of a pleading shall be simple, concise, and direct.” Judge Merryday gave plaintiff twenty-eight days to refile a complaint that was no more than forty pages in length.
Trump filed an amended complaint of exactly forty pages on October 16, 2025. The amended complaint removes the extensive political narrative from the original, including all references to the 2024 election, other media lawsuits , and embedded images. The case was legally narrowed by dropping defendant Michael S. Schmidt and all claims related to the "Third Article" he authored. The plaintiff's extensive professional background, including long lists of properties and books, was severely condensed, and the legal claims were reorganized from two broad defamation claims into six defamation claims specific to the defamatory texts at issue. Finally, the amended complaint adds a new demand for a retraction of the publications.
The case remains open pending a new, amended complaint.
Summary Authors
Jack Moore (10/21/2025)
For PACER's information on parties and their attorneys, see: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71354540/parties/trump-v-new-york-times-company/
Merryday, Steven Douglas (Florida)
Brito, Alejandro (Florida)
Epstein, Daniel Zachary (Florida)
Paltzik, Edward Andrew (Florida)
See docket on RECAP: https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/71354540/trump-v-new-york-times-company/
Last updated Oct. 20, 2025, 11:51 p.m.
State / Territory:
Case Type(s):
Special Collection(s):
Donald Trump personal capacity lawsuits
Key Dates
Filing Date: Sept. 15, 2025
Case Ongoing: Yes
Plaintiffs
Plaintiff Description:
Donald Trump is the 45th and 47th President of the United States, suing in his individual capacity.
Plaintiff Type(s):
Public Interest Lawyer: No
Filed Pro Se: No
Class Action Sought: No
Class Action Outcome: Not sought
Defendants
New York Times Company (New York), Private Entity/Person
Case Details
Other Dockets:
Middle District of Florida 8:25-cv-02487
Available Documents:
Outcome
Prevailing Party: None Yet / None
Nature of Relief:
Source of Relief:
Issues
General/Misc.: