WASHINGTON (AP) — The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Thursday against a man who wants to trademark the suggestive phrase “Trump too small.”
The judges upheld the government’s decision to deny a trademark to Steve Elster, a California man who wanted exclusive use of the term on T-shirts and possibly other merchandise. It is one of several cases before the court involving former President Donald Trump, including major cases related to the violent attack on the Capitol in 2021. Earlier this term, the court set standards for when government officials can be charged with blocking critics. their social media accounts. These cases also involved Trump.
The Justice Department backed President Joe Biden’s predecessor and presumptive opponent in the 2024 election. Administration officials said the phrase “Trump too small” could still be used, just not trademarked because Trump had not agreed to its use. Indeed, “Trump Too Small” T-shirts can already be purchased online.
Elster’s lawyers had argued that the decision violated his right to free speech, and a federal appeals court agreed.
During arguments, Chief Justice John Roberts said that if Elster won, people would rush to trademark “Trump also this, Trump also that.”
Although all nine justices agreed in rejecting Elster’s First Amendment claim, they used different rationales that spanned 53 pages of opinions.
Twice in the past six years, the justices have struck down provisions in federal law that denied trademarks that were deemed scandalous or immoral in one case and disparaging in the other.
Elster’s case concerned another measure that called for the denial of a trademark application if it concerns a name, portrait or signature “that identifies a particular living individual” unless the person has given “written consent.”
The phrase at the heart of the case is a reference to a conversation Trump had during the 2016 presidential campaign with Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who was also a candidate for the Republican presidential nomination at the time.
Rubio started the verbal jousting when he told supporters at a rally that Trump always called him “little Marco,” but that Trump — who says he is 6 feet tall — has disproportionately small hands. ‘Did you see his hands? … And you know what they say about guys with small hands,” Rubio said. “You can’t trust them.”
Trump subsequently made the comment during a televised debate on March 3, 2016.
‘Look at those hands. Are they small hands? And he referred to my hands: if they are small, something else must be small. I guarantee you there is no problem. I guarantee it,” he said.
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This story has been corrected to reflect that earlier this term, rather than last week, the court set standards for when public officials can be sued for blocking critics from their social media accounts.
