A federal judge on Friday struck down President Donald Trump‘s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against the New York Times, ruling it lacked “any legitimate legal claims.”
U.S. District Judge Steven Merryday in Florida gave Trump 28 days to file an amended version of the lawsuit due to concerns that the initial one did not provide a succinct complaint for the court to consider.
The development comes after Trump sued the outlet on Monday, accusing the paper and four of its reporters of defamation and libel.
Trump’s attorneys alleged the newspaper has become a “mouthpiece” for the Democratic Party and has engaged in a “decades-long pattern” of “intentional and malicious defamation against” the president, citing its reporting on the 2024 election and books published by several of its journalists.
However, Merryday said the “complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective — not a protected platform to rage against an adversary.”
“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,” he wrote.
In order to prove defamation, Trump’s legal team must prove that the outlet’s journalists acted with actual malice or reckless disregard for the truth as they covered the president.
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Merryday warned them not to make the amended filing of the 85-page lawsuit any longer than 40 pages, “excluding only the caption, the signature, and any attachment.”
“This action will begin, will continue, and will end in accord with the rules of procedure and in a professional and dignified manner,” the judge wrote.