Trump Media files $3.78 billion defamation lawsuit against Washington Post: Reports

Former United States president Donald Trump's company Trump Media has filed a $3.78 billion defamation lawsuit against Washington Post (WaPo) for a report about the Truth Social platform. According to a report by The Independent on Monday (May 22), the lawsuit filed in Florida's Sarasota County claimed that a May 13 report alleging the company might have committed securities fraud was false and defamatory, and posed an “existential threat”.

The article titled- "Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social” alleged the company concealed key details about a proposed merger from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and shareholders, citing internal documents given by a whistleblower.

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According to the lawsuit, the Washington Post was on a years-long crusade to undermine Trump Media. The lawsuit claimed that the clickbait headline of the report "immediately grabbed the common mind of readers, falsely insinuating that TMTG ( Trump Media & Technology Group) was involved in shady business dealings.”

What does the WaPo report say?

The Washington Post report has cast aspersions on Trump Media's business practices, saying the company failed to disclose investments to the SEC multiple times. “[TMTG] borrowed money from a bank best known for servicing adult entertainment, pledged a stake in the company for the loan and didn’t tell the SEC,” the WaPo report said.

The source of the report was Will Wilkerson, a former employee of Trump media.

"WaPo 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,’" the court filing said and pointed out that Wilkerson knew that Washington Post published fake stories about TMTG, its CEO, Devin Nunes and Donald Trump, Fox News reported.

"Wilkerson contacted WaPo with a salacious story about a porn-friendly bank and securities fraud. Through a series of meetings and conversations with Wilkerson and his lawyers, WaPo undertook with Wilkerson to publish agreed false and defamatory statements to injure TMTG," the court filing added.

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