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TMTG, which is owned by former President Donald Trump and is the parent company of his social media platform Truth Social, claimed The Post “published an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing.” The company further claims the article “exposed TMTG to public ridicule, contempt and distrust, and injured TMTG’s business and reputation.”
The lawsuit’s claims align with Trump’s historical accusations that media headlines about him and his companies are something akin to a “witch hunt,” and the lawsuit seems to be trending along the same narrative. The lawsuit claims “WaPo [The Washington Post] has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession—a bitterly ironic truth for a publication whose motto is “Democracy Dies in Darkness.”
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The Post’s article followed an investigative article by The Guardian which said federal investigators were looking into possible money laundering connected to Russian ties and the alleged acceptance of $8 million. Trump’s company filed a separate defamation lawsuit against The Guardian and claims The Post knew of the article and the suit, but “brazenly published and republished the false and defamatory Guardian statements online,” adding it had been reshared on Twitter multiple times, reaching millions of users across the U.S. According to the lawsuit, this resulted in TMTG suffering from damages including “loss and injury to its business, brand and goodwill, lost future earning capacity, damage and injury to reputation (past and future), costs, and other out-of-pocket expenses.”
Trump Media is demanding a trial by jury and requests compensatory damages amounting to $2.78 billion and an additional $1 billion in punitive damages. The lawsuit is the latest in a series of 25 civil suits involving Trump as either the plaintiff or defendant, as well as ongoing criminal charges in New York City and continued federal, state, and local investigations.
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Trump’s attorneys did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for comment.
The Washington Post told Forbes it couldn’t comment on pending litigation.
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