What legal cases against Donald Trump occurred in 2025 and their outcomes?
Executive summary
In 2025 a torrent of litigation targeted President Donald Trump’s second-term actions: trackers counted hundreds of suits challenging executive orders and agency moves, and the results were mixed — some high‑profile wins for the administration at the Supreme Court and on appeal, but numerous district courts enjoining policies and some reversals by the government [1] [2] [3]. Major discrete developments included a Supreme Court victory in Trump v. CASA, the odd outcome in New York criminal proceedings that culminated in an unconditional discharge, and dozens to hundreds of injunctions and lawsuits over immigration, education, grants and other agency actions [1] [4] [2] [5].
1. The Supreme Court: a headline victory in Trump v. CASA and a favorable emergency docket record
The Supreme Court’s most consequential 2025 ruling for the administration came in Trump v. CASA, where a 6–3 majority held that federal district courts lack statutory authority to issue nationwide injunctions — a sweeping decision that strengthens the administration’s ability to shield policies from immediate nationwide stoppage [1]. SCOTUSblog counted that, across 2025, the court ruled in favor of the administration in roughly 20 emergency‑docket matters and against it in four, reflecting a favorable high‑court posture on many fast‑moving disputes [1]. Reuters’ overview corroborates the breadth of Supreme Court involvement in immigration, domestic troop deployments, tariffs and other executive actions, underscoring the Court’s central role in adjudicating second‑term controversies [6].
2. Criminal proceedings in New York: conviction followed by an unusual sentencing outcome
The Manhattan criminal case that began with a 2024 trial and a jury conviction for falsifying business records produced a notable 2025 development: Justice Merchan sentenced President Trump to an unconditional discharge on Jan. 10, 2025, an uncommon disposition after the May 30, 2024 guilty verdict reported in Lawfare’s criminal‑trial archive [4]. New York court records and the court docket reflect the post‑verdict filings and sentencing materials in early January 2025 [7] [4]. Other reporting notes appellate activity and challenges in parallel civil actions, including an appellate decision that vacated a massive penalty in the New York attorney‑general’s civil suit over asset valuations [8].
3. Flood of executive‑action litigation: trackers disagree on totals but agree on scope and mixed results
Legal trackers documented a deluge: SCOTUSblog counted at least 358 cases challenging the administration through December 2025 while The Fulcrum reported 186 actions as of April 2025 — the discrepancy reflects different inclusion rules, but both show widespread litigation [1] [3]. Just Security and Lawfare operated litigation trackers cataloguing clusters of cases — for example, the F‑1 student‑visa registration fights involved “more than 100 lawsuits and 50 restraining orders” before the government reversed course and restored F‑1 registrations around April 25, 2025 [2]. Those trackers document that the legal fights spanned immigration detention rules, funding cuts, education policy, NIH grant cancellations and more [2] [9] [10].
4. Agency and sectoral defeats and wins: education, grants and emergency docket skirmishes
Education Week’s tally showed dozens of education‑related suits in 2025 with the administration holding a near‑even record in higher courts as cases matured — the outlet reported roughly 72 education lawsuits producing about 26 administration wins and 28 losses in higher courts as of late 2025 [5]. Public‑health and research grant litigation also drew scrutiny: commentators flagged the administration’s cancellation of NIH grants as the center of a controversial case that drew sharp judicial rebukes in some quarters [10]. Meanwhile, The Fulcrum summarized that early in 2025 four adjudicated matters produced two wins for the administration and two losses, illustrating the mixed, case‑by‑case outcomes [3].
5. What the record means: patchwork rulings, institutional strain, and political implications
The record in 2025 was not uniform: some circuit and Supreme Court rulings produced durable doctrinal shifts (nationwide injunctions), while district courts repeatedly blocked or limited policies such as detention mandates and funding cuts, creating a patchwork legal environment and prompting questions about compliance and institutional strain noted in trackers and law‑coverage analyses [1] [2] [9]. Independent trackers and media outlets diverge on counts and emphases, and reporting shows courts both curbing and empowering the administration depending on the legal issue and forum [3] [1]. Sources used here document what was adjudicated and how courts ruled; where trackers disagree on totals, that discrepancy is methodological rather than substantive [1] [3] [2].