President Donald Trump’s longstanding legal battle with CNN over the news outlet’s use of the term “big lie” in reference to his unfounded claims about the 2020 elections being rigged has come to an end with the president losing his appeal.
Trump had filed the lawsuit back in 2022 as a private citizen. In 2023, the lawsuit was dismissed with prejudice by the president’s own appointee, Judge Raag Singhal. In an opinion, Singhal said that whatever the network said was part of its opinion and did not present facts and false claims. Therefore, the judge said it could not support claims of defamation that Trump brought forth.
Following the first dismissal of his suit, Trump appealed to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, consisting of Judges Adalberto Jordan, an Obama appointee; and Kevin Newsom and Elizabeth L. Branch, both Trump appointees. However, all the three judges affirmed Singhal’s ruling last November and rejected his appeal again, despite two of his own appointees being involved.
JUST IN: Trump doesn’t get a single vote at 11th Cir for en banc rehearing of ruling rejecting his libel suit v. CNN over branding his rhetoric as the “big lie.” Doc: https://t.co/oQQo11WhT3 Here’s a recent rundown on Trump’s legal war against press: https://t.co/gYONtcllhM
— Josh Gerstein (@joshgerstein) March 17, 2026
According to the ruling passed by the three judges, “Trump has not adequately alleged the falsity of CNN’s statements. Therefore, he has failed to state a defamation claim.” Refusing to give up, Trump appealed the ruling and filed for a petition, demanding rehearing en banc, which means the matter had to be heard again by all the court’s judges.
However, the Federal Rules of Appellate Procedure allow a rehearing en banc only if at least one of the specific criteria listed in the rule is met, including if the legal matter presents a “question of exceptional importance,” there is a conflict with a decision by the Supreme Court or another federal appellate court, or if there is a conflict with other decisions of that court and “the full court’s consideration is therefore necessary to secure or maintain uniformity of the court’s decisions.”
Therefore, for a matter to be considered for rehearing, the majority of the judges need to vote in favor of the decision. However, in Trump’s case, not a single judge happened to be on his side. Judges Jordan, Newsom and Branch entered a one-paragraph per curiam order denying Trump’s appeal for a rehearing.
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According to the court, “The Petition for Rehearing En Banc is DENIED, no judge in regular active service on the court having requested that the court be polled on rehearing en banc.”
Trump, therefore, lost the appeal before the 12 judges on the court of appeals, which includes six judges appointed by the president.
Since Trump has a demonstrated history of taking his lawsuits all the way to the top, it is not yet clear if he will now appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court. Besides his legal battle with CNN, the president has sued The New York Times, Penguin Random House, The Wall Street Journal and owner Rupert Murdoch, the Pulitzer Prize Board, the BBC, writer Bob Woodward and his publisher Simon and Schuster, and The Des Moines Register.
