• by Ray Schultz , Columnist, March 12, 2025

Historically, people who felt they were defamed sued the writer and/or newspaper responsible for the defamation. That’s still a pretty good model. 

But groups that present an award to the authors of such a piece also now face liability. 

A Florida judge has ruled that a suit filed by Donald Trump against the Pulitzer Prize Board may proceed. 

Trump sued several Pulitzer Board members in 2022, saying they defamed him by not rescinding Pulitzer Prizes given for reporting on alleged Russian interference in the 2016 election, according to Bloomberg.  

The Pulitzer board has maintained that none of the articles were discredited, Bloomberg continues. 

The mere choice of the Pulitzer Board as a defendant is unusual, and some observers might see it as an intimidation tactic. The board members did not write the disputed articles. 

However, the court decision is not based on these issues, but rather on whether Trump can and should pursue the matter as President of the United States. 

The defendants argue that to “proceed further would be constitutionally impermissible because it would be an attempt to exercise ‘direct control’ over plaintiff during his presidency,” writes Robert L. Pegg, senior circuit judge for the Circuit Court of the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit for Okeechobee County, Florida.

The defendants also contend that Trump’s plaintiff’s participation in the lawsuit “could interfere with his duties as president as he could not devote his time and energy to the problems and issues facing the nation.”

Trump asserts that the defendants lack standing to file this motion. 

Pegg states that the “Plaintiff’s arguments are well taken. Should the duties of the President interfere with his ability to perform his obligations in this action, he is certainly entitled to seek the appropriate relief. Should he not do so, yet not comply with the rules of this court, defendants may apply for the appropriate sanctions as they would against any other plaintiff.”

With that, he turned down the motion to temporarily stay the civil action. 

What strikes us is not the question of the President’s ability to do his job. The real issue is whether an organization that gives out journalistic awards can be sued in this way. 

One wonders if the Pulitzer Board, or any prize committee, has the resources to conduct the due diligence that the President seems to demand. 

Maybe this is a nuisance suit. But it would be fun to be in the courtroom as the case proceeds.