A federal judge ruled in favor of The Washington Post last week, formally throwing out Trump Media’s $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against the outlet.
U.S. District Judge Thomas Barber issued the ruling on Thursday and wrote in his summary docket that President Donald Trump’s social media company “failed to present evidence that would allow a jury to find by clear and convincing evidence” that the outlet “published the allegedly defamatory statements with actual malice.”
Barber formally granted The Post’s motion for summary judgement, as well as denied one from Trump Media.
“The Pretrial Conference set for July 13, 2026, is cancelled,” Barber further noted. “A written order memorializing and explaining these rulings will follow in due course.”
“We are pleased with the court’s decision and look forward to reviewing its written order upon release,” a Washington Post spokeswoman said in a statement shared with the outlet.
The decision comes three years after Trump Media and Technology Group sued The Washington Post for defamation, alleging a “years-long crusade” had been conducted by the paper. The Trump Media lawyers cited an “egregious hit piece” in their suit, referring to a May 2023 article that discussed the company’s financing efforts ahead of a merger to take the company public.
However, per The Post, the article in-question was updated with a correction following discovery in the case, writing, “Discovery in the ongoing litigation has established that Trump Media didn’t pay a loan referral fee of $240,000, as was stated in the article and was based on The Post’s reporting at the time of publication.”
In response to this update, a spokesperson for Trump Media noted they were considering an appeal effort over Barber’s ruling.
“After three years, The Washington Post finally admitted its harmful story was false,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “We believe a jury should decide whether these falsehoods were actionable and will evaluate whether to appeal last week’s ruling in due course. We will also continue to hold the media accountable.”
A representative for Trump Media did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment.
This suit marked one of many in Trump’s orbit, with the president suing the Wall Street Journal, BBC and The New York Times in the last year alone.
