An Iowa judge has dismissed President Donald Trump’s lawsuit over a pre-election poll that showed Kamala Harris leading him in the state days before the 2024 presidential election. Scott Beattie, the state court judge overseeing the case, threw out the lawsuit in a 64-page ruling issued Wednesday. He wrote that allowing the case to continue could discourage journalists and others from discussing elections and public affairs, even when political reporting contains mistakes. “Erroneous statements are inevitable in free debate,” Beattie wrote, arguing that such speech requires protection so public discussion can continue without intimidation. The Des Moines Register poll, released three days before the Nov. 5, 2024, election, showed Harris ahead of Trump, 47% to 44%. Trump ultimately carried Iowa by a much wider margin, winning 56% of the vote to Harris’ 43%. Trump accused the newspaper and Selzer, its longtime pollster, of intentionally producing a slanted survey designed to hurt his campaign and discourage his supporters. He sued in December 2024, naming the newspaper, its parent company and Selzer as defendants. Rather than bringing a conventional defamation claim, Trump’s lawsuit alleged that the poll violated Iowa’s Consumer Fraud Act. The complaint characterized the survey as a defective product, an approach apparently intended to avoid the legal barriers that often apply to libel lawsuits involving public figures. Beattie rejected that argument, writing that describing a poll as a product does not change its nature as protected speech. The fact that people paid for the survey, he said, did not turn it into a consumer good. Trump’s legal team said the president plans to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. In a statement, the team accused the defendants of using deception to damage Trump’s campaign and said the case would continue. USA Today Co., the newspaper’s current owner, praised the dismissal. Polly Grunfeld Sack, the company’s chief legal counsel, said the ruling affirmed the role of a free press and rejected efforts to use litigation to punish coverage that powerful people dislike. The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression, which represented Selzer, also defended the decision. Bob Corn-Revere, the group’s chief counsel, said the First Amendment does not permit government officials to punish journalists or pollsters under the label of “fake news.” The ruling follows the dismissal of a separate federal class-action lawsuit brought by Trump supporters who subscribed to the Des Moines Register. A three-judge panel of the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in that case Tuesday but did not immediately issue a decision. Together, the cases have tested whether a flawed election survey can be treated as consumer fraud rather than political speech. Beattie’s ruling rejects that strategy and underscores the legal protections surrounding polling, journalism and debate about candidates—protections that can matter even when a prediction proves wrong.