Fox News has moved to dismiss Newsmax’s antitrust lawsuit, calling the claims “meritless” and insisting that Newsmax’s struggles stem from its own lack of audience and advertiser appeal, not illegal monopolization.
In a 48-page filing in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Wisconsin, Fox attorneys argued that Newsmax “is obviously frustrated that achieving comparable distribution has not translated into comparable popularity,” and that no antitrust violation exists when a rival simply wins in the marketplace.
Newsmax had refiled the suit in Wisconsin just days earlier after voluntarily withdrawing an earlier version in Florida that was dismissed on procedural “shotgun pleading” grounds by Judge Aileen Cannon in September 2025.
Fox is seeking dismissal with prejudice, which would kill the case permanently.
The company previously tried to move the Wisconsin suit back to Florida; that venue fight is still pending.
The high-profile legal clash revives 2020-election-era tensions when Newsmax briefly surged among Trump supporters, and comes as conservative media faces heightened scrutiny following Fox’s $787.5 million Dominion settlement and ongoing Smartmatic litigation. A Newsmax victory could force changes to Fox’s carriage contracts and open doors for other right-leaning networks, while dismissal would reinforce Fox’s dominance in the space. No hearing date has been set.