TMTG drops defamation claim over report that prosecutors were investigating payments received as possible money laundering

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 confirms 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.