Donald Trump speaks at the Washington Post during a forum on Washington real estate in April 2013. (Photo by Kris Connor/Getty Images)
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Donald Trump’s social-media company filed a $3.8 billion defamation lawsuit against the Washington Post on Saturday, claiming an article falsely accused the company of securities fraud.
The article, headlined “Trust linked to porn-friendly bank could gain a stake in Trump’s Truth Social,” came out earlier this month and reported that a murky entity could gain a sizable stake in Trump’s business. The Post also reported on a $240,000 finder’s fee, which Trump’s business now says it never paid.
Attorneys for Trump Media called the report “an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing” in a lawsuit filed in Sarasota County, Florida. The former president’s company is seeking $2.8 billion in compensatory damages and $1 billion in punitive ones, claiming the article exposed Trump Media to “public ridicule, contempt and distrust,” in addition to wiping out $2.78 billion of implied equity value.
A spokesperson for the Post declined to comment, citing the pending litigation.
This filing is the latest in about 25 recent civil lawsuits that involve Trump, either as plaintiff or defendant. He’s also fighting criminal charges in New York City and is the subject of several federal, state and local investigations.
Two of those inquiries focus on Trump Media’s planned merger with DWAC. The Justice Department and the SEC are looking into stock trades and communications surrounding the proposed consolidation, according to disclosures DWAC filed.
Trump Media called the SEC’s failure to approve the merger “inexcusable obstruction” and threatened to sue the agency in a statement accompanying another DWAC.