Florida Supreme Court Allows Trump’s Defamation Lawsuit Against Pulitzer Board to Move Forward
The Florida Supreme Court has declined to pause former President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board, allowing the case to proceed in state court. In a brief order issued this week, the court said it would not exercise jurisdiction over the dispute and would not consider any motion for rehearing — effectively clearing the way for the legal battle to continue without further delay.
Trump’s lawsuit centers on the Pulitzer Board’s 2018 decision to award its prestigious prize for national reporting to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their coverage of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. The former president has long argued that the reporting — which examined alleged links between his campaign and Russia — was false and defamatory, calling it part of what he terms the “Russia collusion hoax.”
The suit, filed in Florida, where Trump resides and where at least one board member is located, accuses the Pulitzer Board of knowingly upholding what he claims were discredited reports. Trump’s legal team contends the board acted with “actual malice” by refusing to rescind the awards even after the release of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s report, which found insufficient evidence of criminal coordination between the Trump campaign and Russian operatives.
The Pulitzer Board had sought to delay the proceedings, arguing that moving forward while Trump was in office could raise constitutional issues related to a sitting president’s exposure to state court litigation. Both the trial court and the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected that claim, citing the 1997 U.S. Supreme Court precedent Clinton v. Jones, which determined that a sitting president is not immune from civil suits for actions unrelated to official duties.
The Florida Supreme Court’s refusal to intervene upholds those rulings and represents a procedural victory for Trump’s attorneys as they continue to press the case. While no trial date has yet been scheduled, the lawsuit now advances to the trial court phase, where arguments over the substance of Trump’s defamation claims are expected to unfold.
The Pulitzer Board has not issued a public statement in response to the court’s decision and has previously stood by its 2018 awards, insisting the work by The Times and The Post “deeply and responsibly covered one of the most consequential stories of our time.”
For Trump, the ruling marks another step in his ongoing effort to challenge the media’s portrayal of the Russia investigation — a narrative he continues to denounce as politically motivated and fundamentally false.