Donald Trump’s legal fight with CNN keeps hitting roadblocks, and his latest setback has him one step closer to a possible Supreme Court appeal.
The former president lost again on Tuesday when the full 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals declined to rehear his defamation case against CNN. Trump had asked the full panel to step in after a three-judge panel rejected his claims in November. Notably, two of those judges were appointed by Trump himself.
At the center of the lawsuit is CNN’s use of the phrase “Big Lie” to describe Trump’s false claims about the 2020 election. Trump argued the term was meant to link him to Adolf Hitler and Nazi propaganda. However, the appellate panel called that argument “unpersuasive,” adding that his assumption that the phrase could be treated as a factual statement was “untenable.” The court also labeled his broader claims “meritless.”
This isn’t a new loss for Trump. Back in 2023, U.S. District Judge Raag Singhal dismissed the case in Florida. Singhal ruled that CNN’s statements were opinion, not false facts, and said Trump failed to prove the network acted with “actual malice,” which is required in defamation cases involving public figures.
The latest decision from the appeals court came without explanation or dissent, signaling little interest in revisiting the case.
Trump’s next move could be the U.S. Supreme Court, but that path is far from guaranteed. At least four justices would need to agree to hear the case, and recent history shows the court has been reluctant to revisit key defamation standards.
