Donald Trump’s media corporation has dropped a defamation claim against the Guardian and two other defendants over a report that federal prosecutors were investigating $8m in payments the company received from entities with ties to Vladimir Putin as possible money laundering.
A filing in the 12th judicial circuit in Sarasota county, Florida, on Friday confirmed that Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the president’s Truth Social platform, was withdrawing its claims without prejudice, meaning it could refile the lawsuit at a later date.
The Guardian reported in March 2023 that New York prosecutors had launched a criminal inquiry into money wired to TMTG through the Caribbean by two entities that appeared to be controlled in part by the relation of an ally of Putin, Russia’s president.
The Trump media group, which at the time was preparing to merge with the shell company Digital World (DWAC) to launch a $1.3bn market capitalization, was sensitive to the allegation it received loans from a potentially unsavory source – and it filed a lawsuit claiming the Guardian had acted with bias or ill-will against it.
In November, the judge hearing the case, Hunter W Carroll, threw out most of the case against Guardian News and Media Ltd; Penske Media Corporation, owner of Variety, which also reported the story; and Will Wilkerson, a former TMTG founder turned whistleblower.
Carroll is an appointee of Rick Scott, the Republican former governor of Florida and a Trump ally. His ruling stated the plaintiffs had failed to prove that the defendants showed actual malice in their reporting, but he allowed Trump’s group to file an amended complaint, which they did in January.
A hearing in the case had been set for Tuesday, according to the court docket, before TMTG’s decision to withdraw entirely from the legal action.
The notice of dismissal gave no reason for the abrupt climbdown. The Guardian has contacted TMTG for comment about the latest development.
A lawyer representing Trump sent the Guardian a statement in April 2024 – three months before the first complaint was filed – saying the outlet’s reporting was “false”.
“The Guardian continues to propagate its false narrative that TMTG has these fake connections to Russia,” it said. “It is a hoax. Litigation will continue on this point, and we are confident that the Guardian will ultimately be held responsible for its defamation – and this story should be retracted.”
There remains no suggestion the company knew of the nature or origin of the loans beyond the fact that they were opaque. Neither TMTG, nor its executives, have been accused of any wrongdoing.
In a statement, a spokesperson for Guardian News and Media (GNM) said: “We enthusiastically welcome Trump Media’s voluntary dismissal of its suit against the Guardian, which is long overdue.
“From the outset, the Guardian’s reporting was built on careful fact-checking, credible sources, and thorough documentation, and Trump Media’s claims always lacked merit – both the first and second times they were filed.”
TMTG’s voluntary dismissal marks a rare capitulation by Trump in an increasingly aggressive legal strategy against media companies during his second presidency.
He has secured significant victories, and extracted substantial financial settlements, in several high-profile cases, including against the US television networks ABC and CBS.
Trump is now suing the New York Times for $15bn in a refiled complaint after it reported an unfavorable opinion poll. And he also has an active $10bn lawsuit against the BBC over an allegation it edited part of his speech from a rally in 2021 for inclusion in a documentary.
The BBC called that lawsuit “groundless” and said it would have a chilling effect on the media’s ability to report on high-profile and powerful individuals globally.
Trump’s case against the Guardian was based on its reporting of two emergency loan payments made to TMTG in December 2021 and February 2022, when it was on the verge of financial collapse after its planned merger with DWAC was delayed by investigations by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.
Wire transfer receipts reviewed by the Guardian identified Paxum Bank, an institution registered in Dominica, as a conduit in a first, $2m payment. The Guardian also identified the ES Family Trust, whose trustee Angel Pacheco appeared to have been simultaneously a Paxum Bank director, in a later, $6m payment.
The criminal investigation by federal prosecutors of the southern district of New York looked into Paxum Bank and its part ownership by an individual named Anton Postolnikov, who appeared to be a relation of the Putin ally Aleksandr Smirnov.