An Iowa judge dismissed President Trump’s lawsuit against the Des Moines Register on Wednesday, ruling the newspaper’s pre-election poll showing him losing the state falls squarely under First Amendment protection — even if it turned out wildly wrong.
Trump sued the Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer last year after her final poll, published three days before the November 2024 election, showed him trailing in Iowa. He won the state by 16 points. The lawsuit accused the paper and Selzer of consumer fraud, claiming they deliberately published misleading numbers to suppress his vote.
Polk County District Judge Scott Beattie granted the defendants’ motions to dismiss, holding that Trump’s suit “seeks to stretch both Iowa statutory and common law beyond their current bounds, turning speech that enjoys the highest category of First Amendment protection into a liability.”
First Amendment Shield Holds Against Fraud Claims
The judge found the Register is protected by the First Amendment regardless of whether the poll was accurate. Even under Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act — which the plaintiffs tried to use as a workaround — the claims fail because political polling and reporting don’t qualify as actionable consumer fraud.
U.S. Representative Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former Iowa State Senator Brad Zaun joined Trump as plaintiffs, arguing the poll damaged their own campaigns. Beattie rejected their claims along with Trump’s.
Judge Warns Against Political Lawfare
Beattie opened his ruling with a pointed observation about the case itself: “This case sets a president, a member of Congress, and a former state senator against a pollster and a newspaper, and it arises out of an election. A case of that kind invites the reader to look for a political result.”
The dismissal marks another example of courts drawing a bright line between political speech — even flawed political speech — and conduct that can be punished under fraud statutes. Polls routinely miss their mark. Making bad polling legally actionable would chill political coverage and turn every blown forecast into a lawsuit.
Trump has not indicated whether he will appeal. The ruling leaves pollsters and media outlets with clear guidance: publishing unflattering or inaccurate polls about political candidates isn’t fraud, no matter how powerful the subject or how wrong the numbers turn out to be.
Key Points
- Trump sued the Des Moines Register over a poll showing him losing Iowa; he won by 16 points
- Judge ruled newspapers and pollsters are protected by the First Amendment even when polls are wrong
- Court rejected consumer fraud claims, warning against turning political coverage into litigation
https://www.courthousenews.com/trump-suit-against-des-moines-register-dismissed-by-iowa-judge/ – September 24, 2026
