A federal judge has rejected President Donald Trump's lawsuit against the New York Times. As per reports, Judge Steven D. Merryday of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida on Friday dismissed the US president's lawsuit, stating that the move did not follow federal rules.
The federal judge further added that the lawsuit against NYT was "decidedly improper and impermissible" as a complaint must be "short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact." Trump's suit against NYT was 85-pages long.
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While the current complaint was rejected, the US president has been offered four weeks to file a proper complaint which is "40 pages" or less.
What did the judge say?
"Alleging only two simple counts of defamation, the complaint consumes eighty-five pages. Count I appears on page eighty, and Count II appears on page eighty-three … Even under the most generous and lenient application of Rule 8, the complaint is decidedly improper and impermissible.
The judge added that the “complaint remains an improper and impermissible place for the tedious and burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments, or for the protracted recitation and explanation of legal authority putatively supporting the pleader’s claim for relief.”
{{/usCountry}}The judge added that the “complaint remains an improper and impermissible place for the tedious and burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments, or for the protracted recitation and explanation of legal authority putatively supporting the pleader’s claim for relief.”
{{/usCountry}}Merryday further stated that a complaint is not supposed to be “a public forum for vituperation and invective” or “a megaphone for public relations".
Why is Trump suing the New York Times?
Earlier this week, President Trump announced that he will be suing the New York Times for "biased coverage."
In a long rant on Truth Social, the US president called the newspaper as one of the 'worst and most degenerate' in American history.
"Today, I have the Great Honor of bringing a $15 Billion Dollar Defamation and Libel Lawsuit against The New York Times, one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers in the History of our Country, becoming a virtual “mouthpiece” for the Radical Left Democrat Party. I view it as the single largest illegal Campaign contribution, EVER," Trump wrote.
Trump also slammed the paper for its front page endorsement of Kamala Harris during the 2024 US elections and for "lying" about the President for decades.