The Week Trump Sued a Pollster for Being Wrong and Lost That Too
Four losses this week, and the throughline is a man who cannot stop getting caught: he sued a pollster for guessing wrong and got dismissed with prejudice, ICE tried to sneak a deportation around a court order and got busted at 11:30 at night, his own judge un-banned three news outlets from the White House by lunchtime, and a fresh poll says two-thirds of the country is done pretending otherwise. Pour something cold — the schadenfreude's flowing before the ice even settles.
1. Trump Sued a Pollster for Being Wrong. A Judge Just Explained How Polls Work.
An Iowa judge dismissed, with prejudice, Trump's consumer-fraud lawsuit against pollster J. Ann Selzer and the Des Moines Register on September 23, ending a case that accused them of 'election interference' over a 2024 poll showing Kamala Harris up 3 points in Iowa days before Trump won the state by 13. Judge Scott Beattie ruled the poll can't be fraud for being wrong because opinion polls are 'inherently uncertain,' and that Trump's team was trying to turn 'the highest category of First Amendment protection' into a liability claim. Trump's legal team says it will appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court, apparently undeterred by a ruling that explains why that won't work either.
He wanted a court to rule that being wrong is illegal. Somewhere, every pollster alive just exhaled.
2. ICE Tried to Deport a Torture Survivor Around a Court Order. A Judge Caught Them at 11:30 PM.
Days after the First Circuit ruled on September 18 that ICE can't ship migrants to random third countries without real notice, the agency tried to deport a Peruvian man — already protected from removal to Peru under the Convention Against Torture — to the Central African Republic anyway, arguing the paperwork formalizing the ruling hadn't caught up yet. His lawyers filed an emergency motion Wednesday night, and the court shut the loophole within hours, writing at 11:30 p.m. that the stay permitting such deportations was dissolved, 'consistent with this court's September 18, 2026, Judgment.' The administration says it will now take the fight to the Supreme Court.
They found the loophole, tried to use it, and got caught before midnight. That's not a legal strategy — that's a bedtime story gone wrong.
3. Trump Banned Three News Outlets From the White House. His Own Judge Un-Banned Them by Lunch.
U.S. District Judge Timothy Kelly granted a 14-day temporary restraining order on September 24 forcing the White House to restore the press credentials it had revoked from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico, ruling the ban was 'most likely unconstitutional' and violated the outlets' due-process rights. The Secret Service blocked the reporters from entering anyway that morning, forcing an emergency hearing before the White House finally let them back in by midday. The order holds through October 8 while the underlying lawsuit plays out.
They lost the ruling, ignored it, got scolded again, and complied anyway. An efficient way to lose twice before noon.
4. New Poll: Trump's Approval Hits Its Lowest Point Since Last Spring
A Verasight/Strength In Numbers poll released September 23 found just 33% of Americans approve of Trump's job performance against 63% who disapprove — a net of -30, the worst reading in the poll's 16 waves since May 2025. The survey of 1,528 adults, fielded September 16–21, also found Democrats leading the generic House ballot by 10 points among likely voters.
Two-thirds of the country disapproves and the number keeps finding new ways to get worse. At some point 'rock bottom' needs its own subscription tier.
Now go back to doomscrolling. You've earned five minutes of not-doom.