President Donald Trump has lost his bid to revive a defamation lawsuit against CNN over the network’s use of the phrase “Big Lie” to describe his false claims about the 2020 election. A three-judge panel on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit unanimously upheld the dismissal of the suit on Tuesday, with two of the judges on the panel appointed by Trump himself.
The case had already been thrown out in 2023 by U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal, another Trump appointee, who ruled that the statements Trump challenged were opinions rather than factual assertions and that he had failed to show CNN acted with “actual malice,” the legal standard for public figures pursuing defamation claims.
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The appellate judges agreed. “We agree that Trump did not adequately plead falsity,” the panel wrote. The judges included Adalberto Jordan, appointed by President Obama, and Kevin Newsom and Elizabeth Branch, both appointed by Trump.
In his lawsuit, Trump argued that CNN’s use of the term “Big Lie” was designed to tie him to Hitler and Nazi propaganda. The panel rejected that argument as “unpersuasive,” saying Trump’s assumption that the phrase conveys a clear factual claim was “untenable.” The judges concluded that the phrase is rhetorical and political in nature, not a statement of fact that can be proven true or false.
The panel also dismissed Trump’s complaint that the district judge limited the scope of the analysis. The judges said that whether CNN repeated the phrase once or many times did not change their conclusion that “Big Lie” is not a factual statement.
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The ruling arrives as Trump continues to center his political narrative on the idea that he and his supporters were victims during their efforts to overturn the 2020 election. Throughout his second term, he has used the Justice Department and his pardon authority to advance that argument.
Tuesday’s decision underscores the independence of the federal judiciary. Despite Trump’s criticism of the courts and despite the fact that two of the appellate judges were appointed by him, the panel ruled against him based on established legal standards. Federal judges hold lifetime appointments and cannot be removed or directed by the president, a reality highlighted by rulings such as this one.
The dismissal leaves Trump without a clear path forward in his attempt to challenge CNN’s language, marking another legal defeat as he continues to battle multiple court cases and public scrutiny over his efforts to undermine the 2020 election results.
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