'Failed again': Trump touts court order allowing him to amend $15 billion lawsuit against US media outlet

Washington: US President Donald Trump on Monday (local time) declared that The New York Times has failed in what he described as a "desperate attempt" to drop his high-profile defamation lawsuit, citing a procedural win after a judge granted his legal team a chance to amend his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the news outlet.

In a post on his Truth Social platform, Trump framed the court's directive as a step forward in his legal battle against the NYT, accusing the news outlet of long-standing bias and reporting with actual malice.

"The Failing New York Times, after 10 years of harassment, slander, and libel, just failed again in their desperate attempt to have our powerful Defamation Lawsuit against them dropped. As we requested, the Highly Respected Judge has called for an updated complaint, which will lay out, in extreme detail, all the ways in which The Times has repeatedly and consistently acted, with actual malice in defaming me, my family, our Great MAGA Movement, and America, itself," Trump wrote.


Reaffirming his intention to continue pursuing media organisations in court, Trump concluded, "We will continue to hold The Times and their 'comrades' in the Mainstream Media accountable for publishing, promoting, and dealing in Fake News. Thank you for your attention to this matter!"

His remarks come after a judge granted his legal team a chance to amend his $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, Fox News reported.

Citing a filing in the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida in Tampa, Fox News reported that Trump's legal team has been given until August 27 to submit an amended complaint in his high-profile defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.

The lawsuit accuses the newspaper of engaging in decades of slander and libel, targeting its coverage on a range of topics including his reality television show "The Apprentice" and articles alleging he engaged in suspect tax manoeuvres, Fox News reported.

The legal action names several high-profile defendants, including The New York Times Company, reporters Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker, and Michael S. Schmidt, as well as publisher Penguin Random House. The publisher released "Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father's Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success," a book authored by Craig and Buettner.

However, addressing the broader legal action, a spokesperson for The Times previously told Fox News Digital, "As we said when this was first filed and again after the judge's ruling to strike it: this lawsuit has no merit. 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."

Earlier in October 2025, President Trump had re-filed the $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times after the judge dismissed the original complaint for being unnecessarily long, Axios reported.

In September, US District Judge Steven D Merryday for the Middle District of Florida had given the president's legal team 28 days to refile the case and shorten the complaint from 85 pages to no more than 40 pages.