Donald Trump can continue his lawsuit against the group that gives the Pulitzer Prize in journalism after the Florida Supreme Court rejected the board’s plea to pause the case during his presidency.
An unauthored, one-page order signed by a majority of the justices said the court was declining to reconsider a Florida Fourth District Court of Appeal ruling issued in May that Trump may sue in state court during his presidency despite warnings from the Pulitzer Board that a state court judge may not be able to compel him through orders like a normal defendant.
The court “having determined that it should decline to accept jurisdiction, it is ordered that the petition for review is denied,” the Tuesday order said. That leaves Trump free to continue demanding money for alleged reputational harm after the Pulitzer Board stood by its awarding investigative pieces that delved into connections between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
Though the court didn’t provide reasons for why it rejected the case, the ruling fits a broader pattern of the Florida Supreme Court declining cases it’s not compelled to consider within its limited jurisdiction under the state constitution. Those reasons are limited to matters such as death penalty appeals, government bond disputes, and decisions that appeals court certify as either conflicts with other state appeals panels or as maters of “great public importance.”
Justices Jorge Labarga and Renatha Francis didn’t concur in the court’s order, but neither penned a dissent.
The Pulitzer Board and Trump’s legal team didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Weber, Crabb & Wein PA represent Trump. Ballard Spahr LLP and WhiteBird PLLC represent the board.
The case is Alexander v. Trump, Fla., No. SC2025-0922, 8/26/25.
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