A federal judge on Friday dismissed US President Donald Trump's USD 15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times (NYT) over its content on him. The judge called the lawsuit a "decidedly improper" effort to attack an adversary.
"A complaint should fairly, precisely, directly, soberly, and economically inform the defendants ... of the nature and content of the claims," said US District Judge Steven Merryday in Tampa, Florida. "A complaint is not a public forum for vituperation and invective--not a protected platform to rage against an adversary."
Trump's USD 15 billion lawsuit against NYT
Earlier this week, Trump filed a USD 15 billion defamation lawsuit against The New York Times, targeting four of its journalists and three articles. In an angry post on Truth Social, the US President called the NYT a mouthpiece of the Democrats, saying it is "one of the worst and most degenerate newspapers" in America's history.
"Today, I have the great honour of bringing a USD 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," he had said. "I view it as the single largest illegal campaign contribution, ever. Their endorsement of Kamala Harris was actually put dead centre on the front page of The New York Times, something heretofore unheard of!"
NYT says lawsuit meritless
However, the NYT criticised the lawsuit, calling it meritless. "The New York Times will not be deterred by intimidation tactics," said NYT spokesperson Charlie Stadtlander, calling the lawsuit an attempt discourage independent reporting.
Meanwhile, this was not the first time that the US President filed lawsuits against media outlets. Earlier, Trump had filed lawsuits against ABC News, CBS News, The Wall Street Journal and media mogul Rupert Murdoch.
