President Donald Trump couldn’t wait to celebrate what he portrayed as a major courtroom victory, taking to social media to declare he’d scored another legal win against The New York Times in his $15 billion defamation lawsuit.
But within hours, that triumphant post had become the center of a very different conversation.
In a social media post on Monday, July 27, Trump ranted that he’s endured “10 years of harassment, slander, and libel” from the news outlet which “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 whined.
What the judge actually did was delayed a ruling on the Times’ request to throw out the case, again giving Trump and his attorneys another chance, until Aug. 27, to revise their complaint as they struggle to find legitimate legal ground.
The Times quickly put out a statement after the ruling last week.
“The judge’s decision makes no statement in support of the frivolous accusations in Mr. Trump’s earlier complaint,” Times spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander pointed out in a post on X.
“To the contrary, the judge simply gives him yet another chance to draft a complaint that demonstrates any legal merit. The president has had this chance twice previously and failed each time,” Stadtlander continued before repeating that the outlet will defend its journalists and their reporting “and the president’s legal pleadings will not change that or deter further reporting.”
“We will continue to defend our reporters’ constitutionally protected rights — and the public’s right to know — and are confident in the laws that underpin them,” he added.
Trump filed the original lawsuit last September targeting The New York Times, its reporters, and Penguin Random House over critical election coverage during the 2024 presidential campaign and the book “Lucky Loser” by the Times’ award-winning investigative reporters Susanne Craig and Ross Buettner.
Florida U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday has already thrown out Trump’s original complaint but allowed him to refile last October, according to Deadline.
Trump filed an amended complaint in October and the Times quickly moved to dismiss it based on the fact it was filed in Florida instead of New York. Merryday ruled on that last week, giving Trump yet another chance to make a case.
Social media spiraled over Trump’s claims pointing out the newsworthiness of the Times’ stories about a public figure who was running for president.
“He is the king of fake news. His current defamation lawsuit against the BBC for $10 billion is requiring him to submit his financial records. He knows he is lying, so he will likely drop this lawsuit or amend the claim. He is a bully who sues people as a form of income,” an X user remarked.
“He’s been calling the NY Times failing for 10 years. Guess it’s not failing. It’s thriving. Does he know how stupid he sounds?,” queried another.
Another also pointed to the recent ruling by a federal judge in Florida in Trump’s $10 billion defamation lawsuit against the BBC over a documentary that the broadcaster edited for time but that Trump claims was manipulated.
“This is a win? Seriously? Release all the Epstein files and produce the documents the BBC have asked for in discovery in the case he brought against them.”
The judge decided the BBC is entitled to comprehensive financial information from the president because Trump is claiming his brand and business interests were tarnished after the program aired in 2024.
“The dude was best friends with the world’s most notorious child sex trafficker for DECADES…wrote him a creepy birthday card. The Times reported on it because it’s f-cking news and Trump tried to sue them. Go cry about it,” an X user stated.
X user Sassy Reign sarcastically remarked, “Aww… did someone hurt his widdle, bitty feelings?”
Others joined in with comments including, “They told the truth” and another pointing out the obvious, “Its only defamation if its untrue.”
