Judge Dismisses Trump's NYT Defamation Suit; 28 Days to Refile Under 40-Page Rule
Federal judge calls the filing 'florid and enervating,' orders refiling within 28 days with a 40-page limit after four days of litigation
A federal judge in Florida dismissed Donald Trump's $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times four days after it was filed, ruling that the complaint was overly long and more a political document than a serious legal pleading. The court gave Trump 28 days to refile the claim, with any new filing capped at 40 pages.
Judge Steven D. Merryday of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida said that, regardless of the presidency, a complaint should explain why the plaintiff is suing in fair, precise, direct, sober, and economical terms. He described the filing as "florid and enervating" and warned that a complaint is not a megaphone for public relations or a platform for invective.
The suit named The New York Times Company, four Times journalists and publisher Penguin Random House as defendants, and centered on three articles and a book by two of the reporters. One October article portrayed Trump as having "an early start learning how to cut corners" after he allegedly borrowed a friend’s dress jacket with medals to wear for a yearbook photo at the New York Military Academy; Times White House Correspondent Peter Baker wrote that Trump was "in effect appropriating medals that he did not win himself." The Times said it would contest the suit.
The Times welcomed the ruling and said the complaint appeared to be a political document rather than a serious legal filing. A Trump spokesman stated that he would "continue to hold the Fake News accountable through this powerhouse lawsuit." Whether Trump will refile remains unclear. The former president has a history of turning to litigation against media outlets in the run-up to elections and has pursued several notable actions against outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, with reports of settlements or outcomes in other cases involving CBS and ABC after separate lawsuits. The notes describe those episodes as part of a broader pattern of using the courts to challenge media coverage, including claims surrounding coverage of E. Jean Carroll and related remarks.
As to next steps, any refile would need to comply with the judge's instructions on length and specificity. The ruling underscores the judiciary's expectation that even high-profile litigants present concise, verifiable pleadings when alleging defamation, rather than structured arguments designed more to shape public perception than to plead a legal claim.