Dismissal of Trump’s CNN Lawsuit Affirmed by Appeals Court: Using ‘Big Lie’ Not Defamatory

Sarah Rumpf Nov 19th, 2025, 10:54 am

AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

A federal appeals court upheld the dismissal of President Donald Trump’s defamation lawsuit against CNN, specifically noting that the network’s use of the phrase “Big Lie” to describe Trump was not a false statement of fact.

The president had sued CNN in 2022 in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, seeking $475 million in punitive damages, complaining about the network’s use of the term “Big Lie” to describe Trump’s unfounded claims about the 2020 election being stolen and other comments aired on CNN.

In 2023, that lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice (meaning it cannot be amended and refiled) in an opi

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