A £3 billion defamation lawsuit filed by Donald Trump against The Washington Post has been dismissed by a US judge, casting further doubt on the former President's efforts to silence critical media scrutiny. In a significant blow to his litigious campaign, District Court Judge Thomas Patrick Barber granted summary judgment to the newspaper, ruling that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) had failed to present sufficient evidence of actual malice, a crucial standard in US defamation law.
The case centred on a 2023 article published by The Washington Post, which reported that a bank with connections to the pornography industry had assisted in funding Trump's nascent social media operation, later rebranded as Truth Social. While the lawsuit alleged that the newspaper had acted with "egregious malice" and engaged in a "years-long crusade" against Trump, Judge Barber concluded that this argument lacked substance.
The decision represents one of several recent legal setbacks for Donald Trump in his ongoing efforts to sue media outlets over articles he has deemed unfavourable. In April, another Florida judge dismissed a case against The Wall Street Journal regarding a story about a letter allegedly written by Trump to the late financier Jeffrey Epstein. Moreover, an initial £12 billion claim against The New York Times and Penguin book publishers was also dismissed, although an amended complaint was later filed.
The Washington Post's original article reported that TMTG had sourced funds from an obscure financial entity linked to a Caribbean-island bank with ties to the adult entertainment industry. Furthermore, the newspaper claimed that TMTG and its publicly traded merger partner failed to disclose a £190,000 "finder's fee" for arranging a £6.3 million loan deal to shareholders or SEC regulators.
In response to the lawsuit, The Washington Post welcomed Judge Barber's decision, stating through a spokesperson: “We are pleased with the court’s ruling and look forward to reviewing its written order upon release.”