MAM
Trump media company drops defamation suit against The Guardian after legal setback
Case withdrawn weeks after court blow, leaving media battle quietly unresolved
LONDON: In a quiet but telling move, Trump Media & Technology Group has dropped its defamation lawsuit against The Guardian, bringing an abrupt end to a legal fight that had been simmering since 2023.
The case stemmed from a report published by The Guardian in March 2023, which alleged that federal prosecutors were examining roughly $8 million in loans received by TMTG, the parent company of Truth Social. The report suggested the funds came from opaque entities linked to an ally of Russian president Vladimir Putin and were under scrutiny for potential money laundering.
TMTG, backed by Donald Trump, strongly denied the claims, calling the report false and defamatory. The company argued that it was never under investigation and accused the publication of damaging its reputation during its proposed merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.
However, the lawsuit hit a major hurdle in November 2025 when Florida circuit court judge Hunter Carroll dismissed the initial complaint. The ruling hinged on a key legal principle. As a public figure, TMTG needed to prove “actual malice”, meaning the journalists knowingly published false information or acted with reckless disregard for the truth. The court found that threshold had not been met.
While the judge allowed TMTG to amend its complaint, which it did in January 2026, the case never regained momentum. Just days before a scheduled hearing in April, the company filed to voluntarily dismiss the lawsuit “without prejudice”, leaving the door open, at least in theory, for a future refiling.
For its part, The Guardian did not hold back. A spokesperson for the publication said the dismissal was “long overdue” and maintained that its reporting was based on careful fact-checking and robust sourcing.
The withdrawal marks a rare retreat in a broader legal offensive by Trump and his associated businesses against media organisations. Several other high-profile cases remain active, including litigation involving the BBC and The New York Times.
In the end, despite strong rhetoric and sustained effort, TMTG’s case against The Guardian appears to have fizzled out rather than reached a decisive conclusion, a reminder that in defamation law, proving harm is one thing, proving intent is quite another.
