A federal judge on Friday, Sept. 19, dismissed President Donald Trump’s $15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times. Just four days after the suit was filed, Judge Steven D. Merryday of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida dismissed the case and ordered the administration to refile the 85-page complaint in 28 days at no more than 40 pages.
Merryday dismissed the case based on the structure of the complaint without discussing the merits — the actual content — of the case. Rule 8 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure says that complaints must be a “short and plain statement…showing that the pleader is entitled to relief.” It must also be “simple, concise, and direct.”
Merryday acknowledged that some complaints are longer than others but said Trump’s complaint is “improper and impermissible” at its current state. The complaint alleges “only two simple counts of defamation,” with the first count not appearing until page 80 and the second on page 83. Merryday said that complaints should not be used for political gain or public relations.
“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.
The first 79 pages of the complaint consist of Trump’s defamation claims against the Times, four Times reporters and the publishing company Penguin Random House. Trump claims the Times and the publishing company published three articles and a book, respectively, “at the height of the election season to inflict maximum electoral damage” to Trump in the last presidential election. At the same time, the beginning of the complaint calls the election an “overwhelming victory… the greatest personal and political achievement in American history.”
The complaint says that Penguin Random House published the book “Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success” by Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner on Sept. 17, 2024. Trump claims the book was full of “malicious” falsehoods. Then, the suit brings up a Times article published an article about the book Sept. 14, 2024, called “The Star-Making Machine That Created ‘Donald Trump,’” also by Craig and Buettner.
The next Times article mentioned is “For Trump, a Lifetime of Scandals Heads Toward a Moment of Judgment” by Peter Baker, published Oct. 20, 2024. Finally, on Oct. 22, 2024, the Times published “As Election Nears, Kelly Warns Trump Would Rule Like a Dictator” by Michael S. Schmidt. Trump claims that these four works are just part of a “decades long” malicious defamation pursuit of the president, saying, “Defendants chose politics over truth.”
The complaint then goes into the content of the Craig and Buettner book and article, which Trump says tries to “falsely and maliciously tear down [his] worldwide reputation for success” including his “magnificent real estate achievements,” his two presidential election wins and his “remarkable performance” as the host of reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
The complaint says that Craig and Buettner make it seem like Mark Burnett, co-creator and executive producer of “The Apprentice,” “discovered” Trump for the role of host and made him famous, even as the complaint claims “Trump was already a mega-celebrity and an enormous success in business.” The complaint says Craig and Buettner “clung” to this fact, making it seem Burnett’s decision “was on par with Christopher Columbus discovering the New World.”
The rest of the complaint talks about various instances in which the news media published “wrong and partisan criticism” of Trump, while also talking about Trump’s “singular brilliance” and “well-known successes.” It talks about the “magnificent Trump Tower…[and] other iconic properties” that Trump owns. As a public official, the only way Trump would be able to win this libel case — if he refiles it — is by proving actual malice.
The actual malice standard was established in 1964 in Supreme Court case New York Times v. Sullivan. In a unanimous opinion, the court ruled for the Times and said that in order to win a libel case, public officials must prove that the work was published knowing the information was false, or with a reckless disregard for the truth.
To win this case, Trump would have to prove that the Times, its reporters and Penguin Random House knew their articles and book, respectively, were false upon publication or that publication happened with reckless disregard for the truth, meaning the reporters and the companies made little to no attempts to confirm the information or do additional reporting. A spokesperson for Trump’s legal team said in a statement that they intend to refile this lawsuit.
“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,” the statement said.