A state judge in Florida ruled on Saturday in favor of Donald Trump by allowing his libel lawsuit against the Pulitzer Prize Board to proceed. This decision, issued by Senior Judge Robert Pegg of the state’s Nineteenth Circuit, ensures that Trump’s case will move forward to the discovery phase.

The lawsuit centers on a statement made by the Pulitzer Prizes board in 2022 defending its 2018 award for national reporting to The New York Times and The Washington Post for their investigative work on Russian interference in the 2016 US presidential election and alleged connections between Russia and the Trump campaign.

On its part, the court reviewed a motion to dismiss the amended complaint filed by former president Trump, initiated by key staff members of the Pulitzer Prize Board in 2022. The board argued that their decision to maintain the prize on the staffs of the two newspapers was based on their opinion and not on fact.

In his complaint, however, President Trump noted that the statements by the New York Times and the Washington Post had falsely suggested he colluded with Russia to win the 2016 election.

In the decision, the court cited that when Special Counsel Robert Mueller was appointed to investigate the allegations against president Trump, his final report concluded that there was no evidence of conspiracy or coordination between President Trump or his campaign and Russia.

Trump used his social media platform to comment on the decision, stating that the judge had firmly rejected the Pulitzer Prize Board’s attempt to dismiss his defamation lawsuit. Trump criticized the Pulitzer Board for awarding what he called fake news stories about the Russia collusion allegations.

Trump’s legal team demanded “a full and fair correction, apology, or retraction” in 2022 from the Pulitzer Prize Board and called for the 2018 awards to be revoked.