A federal judge on Friday struck down President Donald Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, saying a courtroom can’t be used as a substitute for the “Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner.”
Trump’s side will still have a chance to amend the Middle District of Florida complaint in 28 days, as long as it’s no longer than 40 pages, U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday ruled.
“A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a podium for a passionate oration at a political rally or the functional equivalent of the Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner,” according to Merryday, an appointee of President George H.W. Bush.
Trump is claiming he was defamed by the newspaper, four of its reporters and book publisher Penguin Random House.
The judge said that Trump’s complaint, as it now stands, is “improper and impermissible,” adding that every lawyer should know that a lawsuit is not a public forum for “vituperation and invective” or “rage against an adversary.”
An attorney for the president could not be immediately reached for comment on Friday afternoon.
“We welcome the judge’s quick ruling, which recognized that the complaint was a political document rather than a serious legal filing,” a spokesperson for The New York Times said.
Trump claims he was victimized during coverage of the 2024 presidential election. The suit accused the newspaper of trying to ruin his reputation, harm his campaign and prejudice judges and juries against him.
The reporters named as defendants are Susanne Craig, Russ Buettner, Peter Baker and Michael S. Schmidt. Penguin Random House published a book by Craig and Buettner titled “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success.”
Schmidt, Craig and Baker have been contributors to MSNBC and NBC News.
But the lawsuit’s complaints about allegedly biased coverage were “tedious” and a “burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments,” Merryday wrote.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Anthony Cusumano contributed.
