Several of Donald Trump’s highest-profile lawsuits have been thrown out by judges during his second term, most of them multibillion-dollar defamation claims against major news organizations that courts found legally deficient. A federal judge in Florida dismissed his $10 billion suit against The Wall Street Journal, another Florida judge dismissed his $15 billion suit against The New York Times, and a federal appeals court affirmed the dismissal of his $475 million suit against CNN. Separately, a New York appeals court threw out the roughly $500 million civil fraud penalty entered against him, though it left the underlying finding of fraud in place. In most of these cases Trump has kept fighting, either by filing amended complaints or by seeking review in higher courts.
The Wall Street Journal $10 Billion Defamation Suit
Trump sued Dow Jones, News Corp, Rupert Murdoch, CEO Robert Thomson, and two Journal reporters on July 18, 2025, in the Southern District of Florida.1CourtListener. Trump v. Murdoch The suit targeted a July 2024 article reporting that a 50th-birthday album given to Jeffrey Epstein in 2003 contained a letter bearing Trump’s name, a hand-drawn outline of a naked woman, and what appeared to be his signature. Trump has maintained the document is fake.2CNN. Trump Refiles Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal Over Epstein Report
On April 13, 2026, U.S. District Judge Darrin P. Gayles dismissed the case without prejudice.3Jurist. Federal Judge Dismisses Trump Defamation Lawsuit Against Wall Street Journal Gayles ruled the complaint “came nowhere close” to meeting the actual malice standard, describing its malice allegations as a “formulaic recitation” of legal elements and “conclusory assertions.”4ABC News. Judge Throws Out Trump’s $10B Lawsuit Against WSJ Over Epstein Reporting The judge also noted that Journal reporters had contacted Trump, the FBI, and the Justice Department before publishing, and that the article included Trump’s denial, both of which undercut any claim that the paper deliberately avoided the truth. A separate defamation per quod claim failed for lack of any alleged specific financial loss.5CNN. Trump WSJ Lawsuit Over Epstein Dismissed by Judge
Trump refiled an amended complaint on May 27, 2026, adding an allegation that he called Rupert Murdoch on July 15, 2025, and that Murdoch replied, “I will handle it,” which Trump interpreted as a promise to kill the article.6Reuters. Trump Refiles $10 Billion Defamation Suit Against WSJ Over Report on Epstein Ties The Journal moved to dismiss again on June 10, 2026, arguing the amended complaint “re-packaged” the same deficient claims and asking for attorneys’ fees under Florida’s anti-SLAPP statute.7Courthouse News Service. The Wall Street Journal Seeks Second Dismissal of Trump Defamation Lawsuit No ruling had been issued as of mid-June 2026.
The New York Times $15 Billion Defamation Suit
Trump sued The New York Times, four of its reporters, and publisher Penguin Random House in September 2025, focusing on the book Lucky Loser: How Donald Trump Squandered His Father’s Fortune and Created the Illusion of Success by Times reporters Susanne Craig and Russ Buettner.8CNBC. Trump New York Times Lawsuit Dismissed by Judge Merryday
On September 19, 2025, U.S. District Judge Steven D. Merryday dismissed the 85-page complaint on procedural grounds. He ruled it failed to contain a “short and plain statement of the claim,” calling it “decidedly improper and impermissible” and noting that the formal defamation allegation did not appear until page 80, buried behind “vituperation and invective,” “superfluous allegations,” and political oration. He gave Trump 28 days to refile within a 40-page limit.9The New York Times. Trump New York Times Lawsuit Dismissed
Trump refiled on October 16, 2025, dropping reporter Michael S. Schmidt and reorganizing two broad claims into six specific counts.10Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Trump v. New York Times In December 2025 the Times filed two motions, one to transfer the case to the Southern District of New York and one to dismiss for failure to plausibly allege actual malice.11The New York Times Company. The New York Times Responds to Lawsuit Filed by President Donald Trump Both motions remained pending as of June 2026.
The CNN $475 Million Suit
Trump sued CNN in 2022 over the network’s use of the phrase “the Big Lie” to describe his claims about the 2020 election, and over guest commentary comparing him to Adolf Hitler. U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal dismissed the case in July 2023, holding the statements were “not, as a matter of law, defamatory.” In November 2025, a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals affirmed, finding “the big lie” is “not readily capable of being proven true or false” and that the Hitler comparisons were opinion.12CNN. Trump CNN Big Lie Defamation Lawsuit Appeals Trump’s team has asked the U.S. Supreme Court for an extension until August 15, 2026, to petition for review.13The Spokesman-Review. Trump Will Ask Supreme Court to Revive $475 Million CNN Lawsuit
The New York Civil Fraud Penalty
The other major ruling in Trump’s favor came in the civil fraud case brought by New York Attorney General Letitia James. Trial judge Arthur Engoron had found Trump, the Trump Organization, and sons Donald Jr. and Eric liable in 2024 for inflating property values and net worth to obtain favorable loan and insurance terms. The penalty totaled roughly $454 million, growing past $500 million with interest.
On August 21, 2025, a five-judge panel of the New York Supreme Court’s Appellate Division threw out the financial penalty, calling the award “excessive” and likely unconstitutional. Justice Peter Moulton wrote that “while harm certainly occurred, it was not the cataclysmic harm that can justify a nearly half billion-dollar award to the state.”14BBC. New York Appeals Court Throws Out Trump Civil Fraud Penalty The panel split sharply, producing a 323-page ruling with three separate opinions; two judges joined the vote to vacate the fine “for the sole purpose of ensuring finality,” though they preferred a new limited-scope trial.15The Wall Street Journal. NY Appeals Court Throws Out $500 Million Civil Fraud Judgment Against Trump
Important to note: the money is gone, but the fraud finding is not. The court upheld liability and left non-monetary penalties in place, including a three-year ban on Trump serving as a director of any New York company, a similar ban on obtaining loans from banks with New York branches, and an independent monitor at the Trump Organization. Donald Jr. and Eric face two-year management bars.16The Hill. Trump Asks NY Court to Toss Remnants of Legally Unsound Fraud Case Both sides appealed to the New York Court of Appeals. Trump’s lawyers filed a 119-page brief in April 2026 asking that court to erase the remaining fraud finding and lift all restrictions; the Attorney General’s response was due June 23, 2026, with no oral argument date yet scheduled.17Politico. Donald Trump Civil Fraud Appeal
Why the Media Cases Keep Getting Dismissed
The common thread through the defamation dismissals is a doctrine that has protected the American press since 1964. Under New York Times Co. v. Sullivan, a public figure suing for defamation must prove “actual malice,” meaning the publisher either knew a statement was false or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. Showing that a news organization made mistakes, was sloppy, or failed to investigate thoroughly is not enough. Judge Gayles put it plainly in the Journal dismissal: a “failure to investigate, standing on its own, does not indicate” actual malice.18Freedom Forum. Trump Wall Street Journal First Amendment Defamation
Legal analysts at the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University called the New York Times lawsuit “frivolous on its face,” saying it tried to convert protected investigative reporting into actionable defamation and was “short on any allegations of specific false statements of fact.”19Knight First Amendment Institute. Trump Lawsuit Against New York Times Weaponizes Defamation Law to Silence Critics
Cases That Were Not Thrown Out
Not every recent Trump case ended in dismissal, and the distinctions matter. ABC News and George Stephanopoulos settled a defamation suit in December 2024 for $15 million toward a Trump presidential foundation, plus $1 million in fees and an editor’s note of regret, after Stephanopoulos said on air that Trump had been found “liable for rape” when a jury had actually found him liable for sexual abuse.20The New York Times. Trump ABC Settlement21The Guardian. ABC George Stephanopoulos Trump $15 Million Paramount Global settled Trump’s suit against CBS over the editing of a 60 Minutes interview with Kamala Harris for $16 million in July 2025, directed to Trump’s future presidential library.22CBS News. Paramount Trump 60 Minutes Lawsuit Settlement
Trump’s defamation suit against the BBC over a Panorama documentary is still active; the BBC moved for dismissal on jurisdictional grounds in March 2026, and the case is bogged down in discovery disputes.23The Guardian. Donald Trump Lawyers Refuse to Reveal Financial Information in BBC Defamation Case
On the other side of the docket, the two E. Jean Carroll verdicts against Trump have been upheld, not thrown out. A unanimous Second Circuit panel affirmed the $83.3 million defamation verdict in September 2025, and the full Second Circuit denied rehearing in late April 2026. Trump has petitioned the Supreme Court to overturn the separate $5 million sexual abuse and defamation verdict.24The New York Times. E. Jean Carroll Trump Lawsuits