The parent company of Truth Social, the social media platform associated with former President Donald Trump, is seeking $1.5 billion in damages from news organizations that inaccurately reported the platform’s financial losses as $73 million. Lawyers for Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. filed a lawsuit in state court in Sarasota County, Florida, alleging that this figure was a complete fabrication and accusing 20 news outlets of a deliberate and coordinated attack against Truth Social.
Several news outlets, including the Guardian and Reuters, published stories last week about Truth Social’s financial situation, citing a regulatory filing by its merger partner, Digital World Acquisition Corporation. However, some of these outlets, including Reuters, later issued corrections, admitting that they had mistakenly counted a $50.5 million profit for 2022 as a loss. Lawyers for TMTG argued that the fact that all 20 outlets reported the incorrect $73 million figure within hours of each other suggested a coordinated campaign.
A spokesperson for Reuters stated that they disputed any allegation of defamation against TMTG and emphasized their commitment to reporting news fairly and accurately. The Guardian did not respond to a request for comment on the matter.
Launched last year, Truth Social became Trump’s preferred social network after he was banned from Twitter and suspended from Facebook and Instagram following the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021. Although the former president has since been reinstated on those platforms, he continues to primarily post on Truth Social.
The lawsuit, titled Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. v. Guardian News and Media LLC, is currently ongoing in the Circuit Court of Twelfth Judicial Circuit, Sarasota County, Florida.
