The long-running tug-of-war over where to sue Donald Trump’s media company is heading back to a Sarasota courtroom after Florida’s highest court quietly stepped aside.
The Florida Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to hear a challenge over the proper venue for a lawsuit involving Trump Media & Technology Group Corp., leaving an appeals court decision in place and sending the dispute back to the trial judge. The petition came from ARC Global Investments II LLC and its manager, Patrick Orlando, who argued the case belongs in Miami-Dade County rather than Sarasota County.
Supreme Court Declines To Step In
In a unanimous order, the justices refused to review the appeal and said they “lacked a reason to exercise jurisdiction,” according to Tampa Free Press. As reported there, the court also turned down motions for rehearing, closing the door on any immediate statewide ruling about where this fight should be heard.
That move leaves intact a Second District Court of Appeal decision that came down on the side of Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, and keeps the case anchored in Sarasota for now.
Appeals Court Says New Complaint Wipes Out Old Challenge
The Second District tossed ARC and Orlando’s interlocutory appeal as moot after Trump Media filed a second amended complaint that added new parties and claims. With that filing, the operative pleading changed, and the appeals court said the trial judge should make the next call on venue based on the updated complaint.
The opinion from the Second District, available on Justia, explains that when a superseding complaint is filed, it typically resets the venue analysis and sends the issue back to the trial court.
Why Miami Was So Important To ARC And Orlando
ARC and Orlando had pushed hard to get the case heard in Miami-Dade County - where ARC lists its principal place of business - and asked the Florida Supreme Court to settle what they described as a split in state law over venue.
Their argument: venue should be locked in when a lawsuit is first filed, not reopened every time a plaintiff updates the complaint. Their briefs warned that allowing amended complaints to reset the venue fight would give plaintiffs a tool to sidestep unfavorable venues and force defendants into repeated, expensive battles over where the case should be heard.
Florida Supreme Court appellate filings list ARC’s business ties to Miami-Dade County as part of that pitch.
What Happens Next In Sarasota
With the Florida Supreme Court out of the mix, the venue dispute slides back to the Sarasota trial court, where the judge will sort out venue under the second amended complaint and any related motions.
Trump Media has already moved to expand the scope of the case by adding claims and parties through its amended pleadings. The company disclosed in federal regulatory filings that a three-week jury trial was scheduled to start on March 23, 2026, though the schedule has been shifting as the parties trade discovery demands, subpoenas and sanctions requests.
An SEC filing by Trump Media lays out the current litigation timeline and a slate of pending motions.
Why The Ruling Matters Beyond Trump Media
This episode underscores how procedural maneuvering - like dropping a superseding complaint into the record - can shape where a lawsuit is fought, not just how it is ultimately decided.
Lawyers for ARC warned that the Second District’s approach could give plaintiffs a kind of venue escape hatch, letting them amend around an unfavorable forum and keep defendants on a loop of venue challenges. On the other side, plaintiffs and their counsel argue that the appellate court simply followed established practice, letting the trial judge decide venue based on the complaint that is actually in force.
The test that trial courts should apply going forward is outlined in the Second District’s opinion on Justia.
For now, the Trump Media venue fight will play out in Sarasota, where the parties are expected to keep trading discovery, subpoenas and motion practice. The Florida Supreme Court’s decision not to get involved leaves the door open for the venue issue to return someday on a different procedural record. At least for the moment, though, the clash over whether Trump Media belongs in a Sarasota or Miami-Dade courtroom is back in the hands of the trial judge who first got the case.
