President Donald Trump received a harsh rebuke Friday after a federal judge struck down his $15 billion lawsuit against the New York Times for defamation, granting the president exactly 28 days to amend his complaint or abandon it entirely.
“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,” wrote Middle District of Florida Judge Steven Merryday in his ruling Friday.
“A complaint is a short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact sufficient to create a facially plausible claim for relief and sufficient to permit the formulation of an informed response. Although lawyers receive a modicum of expressive latitude in pleading the claim of a client, the complaint in this action extends far beyond the outer bound of that latitude.”
Trump sued the New York Times over claims that the paper published numerous defamatory stories and books about him in the leadup to the 2024 election, stories and books that, Trump alleged in the lawsuit, were designed to undermine his reputation.
Michael Schmidt, a journalist for the outlet, pushed back at Trump’s threats and pledged that the New York Times would not be backing down.