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Trump had filed the case in US District Court, targeting four Times journalists over a book and three articles published in the run-up to the last election
US President Donald Trump. (AP File Photo)
A federal judge in Florida dismissed US President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, ending his latest courtroom clash with the media.
Trump had filed the case in US District Court, targeting four Times journalists over a book and three articles published in the run-up to the last election.
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Announcing the suit on Truth Social, Trump blasted the newspaper as “one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the nation’s history” and a “virtual mouthpiece for Democrats.”
The Times rejected the claims, calling the case meritless and an attack on press freedom. “The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics,” spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander said.
The lawsuit was among several that Trump launched against major news outlets.
He previously filed suits against ABC News and CBS’ 60 Minutes, both of which were settled by their parent companies.
In July, he sued The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch over coverage of his ties to financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
In the complaint against the Times, Trump accused reporters Russ Buettner and Susanne Craig of “maliciously peddling the fact-free narrative” that television producer Mark Burnett made him a celebrity through The Apprentice, an American reality television series that judged the business skills of a group of contestants.
He insisted he was “already a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business” before the show. The 85-page filing also took aim at reporting on his early business dealings and his father, Fred Trump.
The lawsuit further objected to articles by Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt. Baker’s October 20 piece was titled “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment.”
Schmidt’s October 22 report, featuring an interview with Trump’s former chief of staff John Kelly, carried the headline “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator.”
Trump alleged the newspaper never accepted his 2016 victory and could not imagine him winning again.
Though not part of the case, he also lashed out at the Times’ “deranged” endorsement of opponent Kamala Harris.
On Truth Social, he added: “The ‘Times’ has engaged in a decades long method of lying about your Favorite President (ME!), my family, business, the America First Movement, MAGA and our Nation as a whole. I am PROUD to hold this once-respected ‘rag’ responsible.”
United States of America (USA)
September 19, 2025, 22:40 IST
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