Another lawsuit by President Donald Trump against a news organization has failed.
This time it’s a defamation lawsuit that the Trump Media and Technology Group filed against The Washington Post in 2023 over an article titled “Trust Linked to Porn-Friendly Bank May Get Stake in Trump’s Truth Social.”
A federal judge in Florida dismissed the lawsuit, saying Trump Media “failed to present evidence that would enable a jury to conclude by clear and convincing evidence” that The Post “published the allegedly defamatory statements with actual malice.”
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber’s opinion came at the summary judgment stage of the case, when a judge can evaluate the evidence and make a decision before proceeding to trial.
The Post’s lawyers argue that Trump Media cannot prove “actual malice” – the high legal standard that public figures must meet to prevail in a libel case. This means that the defendant either knew the statement was false or showed “reckless disregard for whether it was false or not.”
The Post reporter, Drew Harwell, who wrote the article in question, “carefully researched” the subject matter and “was confident of the accuracy of the article at the time of publication,” the newspaper’s lawyers wrote.
In a summary post last week first reported by Reason magazine, Barber sided with the Post. He said he would issue a full verdict later.
The newspaper itself reported a legal victory on Tuesday. “We are pleased with the court’s decision and look forward to reviewing its written order upon release,” a spokesperson told CNN.
A spokesperson for Trump Media did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment, but the company told The Post: “We believe a jury should decide whether these falsehoods were substantiated and will evaluate whether to appeal last week’s decision in due course. We will also continue to hold the media accountable.”
Trump Media positions itself as a challenger and alternative to traditional technology and media companies. She is best known for running Truth Social, a relatively small social network of choice for the president.
The public company has been losing money for years; The company had less than $1 million in revenue in the first quarter of this year, according to public filings.
The company has repeatedly filed lawsuits over news coverage it believed to be false. The libel suit against The Guardian and other defendants was dismissed by another Florida judge last November. Trump Media initially filed an amended complaint but then dropped the case altogether in April.
Trump Media’s lawsuit against the Post accused the newspaper of “conspiring” to harm the company and sought $3.8 billion in damages.
Lawyers in the lawsuit narrowed the case significantly and said Truth Media could not satisfy the “heavy burden” of the true malice standard.
In May, while awaiting a judge’s decision, The Post published a correction to the 2023 article, saying that “ongoing litigation has determined” that two statements in the article were incorrect. However, the correction emphasizes that the statements are “based on The Post’s reporting at the time of publication.”
Trump and his businesses have a long history of attracting attention to lawsuits only to see judges later throw them out.
In April, a federal judge dismissed Trump’s defamation lawsuit against The Wall Street Journal over its reporting on a lewd birthday letter to Jeffrey Epstein that included his name. Trump refiled the lawsuit in May. He also faces legal action against the BBC, The New York Times and the Des Moines Register.