‘A complaint is not a megaphone for public relations’: A judge just eviscerated Trump over his The New York Times lawsuit in court

A federal judge just tossed out Donald Trump’s $15 billion lawsuit against The New York Times, saying a courtroom is not a place for a “passionate oration at a political rally.” U.S. District Court Judge Steven Merryday, a George H.W. Bush appointee, ruled that the lawsuit was “improper and impermissible,” and that it could not be used as a substitute for the “Hyde Park Speakers’ Corner.”

Trump’s lawsuit claimed that the newspaper, four of its reporters, and book publisher Penguin Random House had defamed him during their coverage of the 2020 presidential election. According to the lawsuit, the publication was trying to “ruin his reputation,” “harm his campaign,” and “prejudice judges and juries against him.”

Merryday, however, was not impressed by these claims, per NBC. The judge said that lawyers should know that a civil lawsuit is not a public forum for “vituperation and invective” or “rage against an adversary.” The judge also said that the complaints about allegedly biased coverage were “tedious” and a “burdensome aggregation of prospective evidence, for the rehearsal of tendentious arguments.”

Trump’s lawsuit against The Times was thrown out

The New York Times welcomed the judge’s quick ruling. A spokesperson for the newspaper said that the decision “recognized that the complaint was a political document rather than a serious legal filing.”

While the lawsuit was thrown out, Trump’s legal team still has a chance to amend the complaint. They have 28 days to do so, and the new filing must be no longer than 40 pages. An attorney for the president could not be immediately reached for comment.

This isn’t the first time a Trump lawsuit has been questioned for its legal merit. It seems like the judge is making it clear that a courtroom is not a “megaphone for public relations.” This whole situation is a little wild to think about. I can’t imagine putting a lawsuit together that a judge would describe with words like “improper and impermissible.” It’s a huge waste of time and money, and it makes you wonder what the actual end goal was here. Was it to win, or just to make a statement?

The fact that the judge specifically called out the “tedious” and “burdensome” nature of the complaint really says a lot. It sounds like a lot of what was filed was just a long list of grievances, not a well-structured legal argument. For a $15 billion lawsuit, you’d expect something a lot more solid.

This whole thing highlights the difference between a political dispute and a legal one. In a political rally, you can say whatever you want, but a courtroom has rules and standards. Judge Merryday’s ruling is a strong reminder of that. The judge is basically saying that you can’t just use the court system to air out your political grievances.