US President Donald Trump has refiled a $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, court documents show, weeks after it was thrown out by a federal judge.
Trump has intensified his long-established hostility toward the media since his return to the White House and the suit is one of numerous attacks against news organizations he accuses of bias against him.
The Times complaint was thrown out in September because District Judge Steven Merryday took exception to its florid writing, repetitive and laudatory praise of Trump and its excessive 85-page length.
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The suit filed Thursday in Florida and seen by AFP runs to less than half the length, at 40 pages.
It takes aim at “false, defamatory, and malicious publications”, highlighting a book and two Times articles.
The lawsuit named the newspaper, three Times reporters and the publisher Penguin Random House as defendants.
It accuses them of making defamatory statements against Trump “with actual malice.”
“The statements in question wrongly defame and disparage President Trump’s hard-earned professional reputation, which he painstakingly built for decades” before entering the White House, the lawsuit says.
The court was asked to grant compensatory damages of not less than $15 billion and additional punitive damages “in an amount to be determined upon trial.”
Trump’s attacks on media outlets have seen him restrict access, badmouth journalists critical of his administration, and bring lawsuits demanding huge amounts of compensation.
In July, Trump sued media magnate Rupert Murdoch and The Wall Street Journal for at least $10 billion after it reported on the existence of a book and a letter he allegedly sent to sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
Paramount settled Trump’s lawsuit over election coverage on CBS News’ flagship show “60 Minutes” for $16 million the same month. He had alleged that the program deceptively edited an interview with his 2024 election rival, Kamala Harris, in her favor.
