A federal judge in Florida has dismantled Donald Trump's $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post, ruling that the company behind his Truth Social platform failed to prove the newspaper acted with malice when publishing a controversial 2023 story about the sources of its funding.
Tampa district court judge Thomas Patrick Barber, a Trump appointee, granted summary judgment to the Post on Thursday, finding that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) "failed to present evidence that would allow a jury to find by clear and convincing evidence" that the publication acted with actual malice, the legal standard required to win such a case. A detailed written opinion is forthcoming.
The lawsuit targeted a 2023 Post article claiming that TMTG had received funding from "an obscure financial entity with connections to a Caribbean-island bank that bills itself as a top payment service for adult entertainment sites." The reporting detailed how Trump Media paid a $240,000 finder's fee to Entoro Securities, a brokerage firm linked to the chief executive of Digital World, the shell company that merged with TMTG in 2024, to help arrange an $8 million loan from ES Family Trust.
Trump's legal team argued the Post had engaged in a "yearslong crusade" against the former president and published an "egregious hit piece" without proper verification. The newspaper, however, had already issued a correction in May acknowledging that the specific $240,000 referral fee claim was inaccurate based on discovery in the litigation.
The Post stated it welcomed Barber's decision. "We are pleased with the court's decision and look forward to reviewing its written order upon release," a spokesperson said.
TMTG disputed the characterization of the court's ruling as a defeat. In a statement, the company framed the Post's May correction as vindication. "After three years, The Washington Post finally admitted its harmful story was false," TMTG said, noting it would evaluate whether to appeal and promising to continue holding media outlets accountable.
This ruling adds to a mounting string of legal setbacks for Trump in media-related litigation. In April, another Florida judge dismissed his lawsuit against the Wall Street Journal over a story alleging he wrote a bawdy letter to deceased financier Jeffrey Epstein. Seven months prior, a third Florida judge threw out a $15 billion claim against the New York Times and Penguin Books, though Trump subsequently filed an amended complaint. That same month, TMTG abandoned a defamation claim against the Guardian stemming from a 2023 report about the company's acceptance of loans with reported ties to Russia.
Author James Rodriguez: "The courtroom track record speaks louder than any statement: Trump's media lawsuits keep failing because truth is a formidable defense."
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