President Trump’s $15 billion defamation suit
against The New York Times was thrown out by a federal judge on Friday.
U.S. Judge Steven D. Merryday, of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida, criticized the
“florid and enervating” pages included in the 85-page complaint, and noted that the formal allegation of defamation was not made until near the end of the complaint page, after pages that
praised the president and listed his grievances, the Times reports.
“In this action, a prominent American citizen (perhaps the most prominent American citizen)
alleges defamation by a prominent American newspaper publisher (perhaps the most prominent American newspaper publisher) and by several other corporate and natural persons,” Merryday reportedly
wrote. “Alleging only two simple counts of defamation, the complaint consumes eighty-five pages. Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page
eighty-three.”
advertisement
advertisement
Merryday added: “A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective. Not a protected platform to rage against an
adversary.”
The judge gave the president’s legal team 28 days to file an amended complaint, and ordered that it can be no more than 40 pages in length.
The suit,
filed earlier last week, accuses The New York Times of defaming the president with a series of articles prior to the 2024 election.
The suit alleges that the
Times articles and a book published by two of the journalists were “specifically designed to try and damage President Trump’s business, personal and political reputation,”
the Times reports -- ant that the articles and book were published with “actual malice” toward Mr. Trump and caused “enormous” economic losses and damage to his
“professional and occupational interests."
In addition to The New York Times Company, the defendants include Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker, Michael S. Schmidt and Penguin
Random House, which published a book about Mr. Trump written by Ms. Craig and Mr. Buettner.
In response to the judge’s order, a spokesperson for the Trump legal team said:
“President Trump will continue to hold the Fake News accountable through this powerhouse lawsuit against The New York Times, its reporters and Penguin Random House, in accordance
with the judge’s direction on logistics,”according to the Times.
This is not the only high-ticket suit being pursued pursued by President Trump.
In July, he
filed a $10 billion+ libel suit against Dow Jones, News Corp., Rupert Murdoch and individual reporters.