President Donald Trump filed a lawsuit against the Des Moines Register and pollster J. Ann Selzer in 2024 over the publication of the Iowa Poll, which showed former Vice President Kamala Harris leading Trump among likely Iowa voters 47% to 44% three days before the 2024 election. The lawsuit was dismissed by an Iowa district court judge on Wednesday.
The lawsuit, which initially went through federal court, was refiled in state court in 2025 alongside U.S. Rep. Mariannette Miller-Meeks and former state Sen. Brad Zaun. Trump’s attorneys claimed the poll results were an attempt to create a false narrative of inevitability for Harris in the final week of the 2024 presidential election and alleged violations of Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act.
District Court Judge Scott Beattie ruled that the claims were incorrect, stating that the lawsuit sought to stretch Iowa statutory and common law beyond their current bounds. He wrote that the petition aimed to turn speech protected by the First Amendment into a liability. The judge dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning Trump cannot file the same legal claim again.
The organization representing Selzer, the Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), released a statement celebrating the decision. FIRE Chief Counsel Bob Corn-Revere said the lawsuit was laughable from the beginning and that the First Amendment does not allow government, including the president, to punish people under the banner of ‘fake news.’
J. Ann Selzer reiterated in a statement that the difference between polling and election results is not a deliberate act nor evidence of fraud. She stated that polling is a social science, not clairvoyance, and that no responsible pollster can guarantee an election outcome. Selzer expressed gratitude that Judge Beattie’s ruling recognized these principles and reaffirmed the freedom to pursue and publish the truth without political interference.
Attorney Alan Ostergren, who represented the president in the lawsuit, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case dismissal.
