Florida Supreme Court Hears Trump Defamation Suit Against Pulitzer Board

President Donald Trump is actively pursuing a defamation lawsuit against members of the Pulitzer Prize Board over their 2018 award to The New York Times and The Washington Post for reporting on alleged collusion between his campaign and Russia. The Pulitzer Board sought to delay the lawsuit until Trump leaves office, arguing potential conflicts with presidential immunity, but both a state trial judge and the Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal rejected this, allowing the case to proceed. Trump's legal team criticized the Pulitzer Board's request for a stay as legally incorrect and an improper attempt to claim immunity belonging solely to the president. The core dispute centers on whether the Pulitzer Board's statement affirming the award falsely implied the accuracy of what Trump’s lawyers call the “debunked Russia Collusion Hoax.” The Florida Supreme Court is now weighing the issue, which could influence how lawsuits involving a sitting president are handled in state courts. Previous investigations, including those by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, found insufficient evidence of collusion, but the defamation claim hinges on the assertion that the Pulitzer Board vouched for discredited reporting.