What are the most significant lawsuits Donald Trump has faced, and how many resulted in convictions, dismissals or judgments?
Executive summary
Donald Trump has faced a wide array of high‑profile criminal and civil cases — including a Georgia racketeering prosecution that a judge dismissed in November 2025 and an upheld nearly $1 million penalty for a frivolous suit against Hillary Clinton and others [1] [2]. Reporting and trackers show hundreds of suits tied to his administration’s actions and dozens of media and defamation cases, but the available sources do not offer a single consolidated count of every suit’s final outcome [3] [4] [5].
1. Major criminal prosecutions: what was charged and which ended
The most prominent criminal matters in recent reporting included charges tied to efforts to overturn the 2020 election in Georgia; that racketeering case was dismissed by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee after prosecutors moved to drop it, closing “the final criminal case against Trump that remained unresolved” after his return to the White House [1]. AP News describes that several criminal matters — including a hush‑money conviction and probes about classified documents and election interference — were among cases that “have either been dropped, resolved or put aside” since his 2024 reelection, though AP does not list a final tally in the excerpts provided [6].
2. Civil litigation: breadth, media suits and defamation claims
Trump has pursued and been targeted in many civil suits. Trackers and news outlets report “hundreds” of lawsuits tied to his administration’s executive actions [4] and more than 100 lawsuits and 50 restraining orders in at least one episode of litigation related to executive orders [3]. His battles with media organizations are long‑running: outlets note settlements with ABC and threats to sue the BBC for up to $1 billion, and analysis says he’s “notched several well‑publicized settlements, but few actual victories in court” in defamation litigation [7] [8] [5].
3. Sanctions and penalties: a notable appellate loss
A concrete, recent civil‑court outcome was an appeals court upholding a nearly $1 million penalty against Trump and attorney Alina Habba for filing what judges called a “frivolous” lawsuit against Hillary Clinton, former FBI director James Comey and others; the appellate decision described the suit as an “abuse of judicial resources” and left the penalty intact [2] [9]. That ruling is a definitive example where courts imposed financial sanctioning rather than criminal punishment [2].
4. Trackers show volume but not a neat outcome count
Several monitoring projects and outlets maintain litigation trackers because the caseload is large and fluid: Just Security, Lawfare and AP all document dozens to hundreds of suits challenging executive actions or tracking administration litigation [3] [10] [4]. The Fulcrum and other reporting tally “over 186 legal actions” against the administration in a recent period, but those pieces do not translate into a clear number of convictions, dismissals or final judgments attributable to Trump personally [11]. In short, source trackers document scale but available sources do not provide a single, consolidated final accounting of how many cases resulted in convictions versus dismissals or civil judgments.
5. Conflicting implications and political context
The reporting shows competing narratives: some outlets emphasize judicial pushback against Trump‑linked prosecutions — for example, a Reuters piece highlights courts finding procedural defects when the administration sought retribution cases, underscoring institutional resistance inside the Justice Department and the judiciary [12]. Others concentrate on the administrative and civil litigation flood challenging Trump’s policies — with state attorneys general and private parties filing dozens of suits to block or delay his actions [13] [4]. These differing frames reflect the dual nature of his litigation profile: personal criminal and civil exposure alongside an administration facing multistate and federal court challenges.
6. What the sources do not provide and limits to a definitive answer
Available sources document many individual important outcomes (e.g., the Georgia racketeering dismissal and the $1M appellate penalty) and indicate hundreds of related suits against the administration [1] [2] [4]. However, the sources provided do not supply a comprehensive, up‑to‑date inventory that tallies every significant Trump suit and classifies each as a conviction, dismissal, settlement or judgment. Where a precise count is required, the available reporting does not mention a definitive, single‑figure summary of convictions vs. dismissals vs. judgments covering all cases (not found in current reporting).
7. Bottom line for readers
If you want a case‑by‑case accounting: reporters and legal trackers (AP, Washington Post, Just Security, Lawfare, Reuters and others) are the right place to follow developments because they update trackers and publish rulings as they occur [14] [3] [10] [12] [4]. For headline outcomes: recent, high‑visibility rulings included the Georgia racketeering case dismissal and the appellate affirmation of a nearly $1 million sanction for a frivolous civil suit — emblematic of the mixed legal record that combines dismissals, sanctions, settlements and ongoing litigation [1] [2].