Trump’s Truth Social Sues The Washington Post for Defamation

The gloves are coming off…

Donald Trump’s social media company Truth Social is suing Jeff Bezos-owned Washington Post for defamation. The nearly $3 billion lawsuit alleges The Post published an article that harmed Trump’s company’s reputation and caused “enormous loss.”

The suit alleges that the Washington Post article, “Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social” includes a series of “materially false” statements that accused the Trump-owned company of fraud and other wrongdoing.

“WaPo’s false criminal charges exposed TMTG to public ridicule, contempt and distrust, and injured TMTG’s business and reputation,” the complaint states, while accusing The Washington Post of waging a years-long crusade against the Truth Social owner.

The complaint further states that “WaPo’s latest defamation creates an existential threat for TMTG, causing enormous loss.”

The lawsuit was filed by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which owns the social media platform Truth Social, on May 20 in Florida state court in Sarasota County.

The lawsuit alleges that The Washington Post made nine false statements about TMTG in the May 13 article. The false claims are as follows:

–“An obscure financial entity … would gain a sizable stake in former president Donald Trump’s media company if its merger deal proceeds”;

–“[T]he role ES Family Trust would assume in Trump Media and Technology Group has never been officially disclosed to the Securities and Exchange Commission [“SEC”] or to shareholders in Digital World Acquisition [“DWAC”], the special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, that has proposed merging with Trump’s company”;

–“The companies also have not disclosed to shareholders or the SEC that Trump Media paid a $240,000 finder’s fee for helping to arrange the $8 million loan deal with ES Family Trust”;

–“…the recipient of that fee was an outside brokerage associated with Patrick Orlando, then Digital World’s CEO”;

–“Orlando’s finder’s fee could affect the value of the shares”;

–“Trump’s media company took out an $8 million loan in exchange for stock, but no one told the SEC”;

–“Trump Media: this time they borrowed money from a bank best known for servicing the adult entertainment, pledged a stake in the company for the loan and didn’t tell the SEC”;

–“A Russian banker connected to the porn industry could have gained a stake in Trump’s Truth Social according to documents”;

–“The Guardian reported in March that federal prosecutors in New York have been investigating whether the Trump Media loans violated money laundering statutes.”