A federal judge has rejected Donald Trump’s $15 million lawsuit against the New York Times saying the rambling 85-page complaint violated a federal rule requiring “a short plain statement” of the claim in an attempt to demonstrate that the plaintiff deserves relief.
That didn’t take long:
Federal judge rejects Trump’s NY Times lawsuit https://t.co/9Ob463XCBv— Bob Ortega (@Bob_Ortega) September 19, 2025
From CNN:
Judge Steven D. Merryday of the US District Court for the Middle District of Florida said Friday that the suit “stands unmistakably and inexcusably athwart the requirements of Rule 8” of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure.
A complaint must be a “short, plain, direct statement of allegations of fact,” he wrote, and Trump’s broadside against The Times was “decidedly improper and impermissible.”
Merryday said Trump’s legal team can refile in the next four weeks, but must keep the complaint to 40 pages or fewer.
A complaint is not supposed to be “a public forum for vituperation and invective” or “a megaphone for public relations,” he said.
Earlier this week, several legal experts declared the lawsuit lacked merit, and many argue the filing was just another in a long line of PR stunts by the Donald. “The vast majority of these issues likely aren’t actionable” in court, First Amendment scholar RonNell Andersen Jones told CNN.
Meanwhile, over on Earth Two…
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