Trump Media sues 20 media outlets, seeks $1.5 billion for 'unprecedented fabrications'

Trump Media and Technology Group, the organization behind former President Donald Trump's social media platform, Truth Social, has filed a lawsuit for $1.5 billion in Sarasota County against more than 20 media organizations for allegedly "falsely reporting that TMTG had lost $73 million."

The complaint for libel/slander, filed in circuit court on Monday, states that at least 20 major media outlets reported the same loss within 24 hours of each other and each cited a Securities and Exchange Commission report as to where they found the amount. However, the complaint states that the $73 million loss doesn't appear in the report. Since Trump Media and Technology Group is headquartered in Sarasota in an office on Cattlemen Road, the lawsuit was filed in the 12th Judicial Circuit Court.

"This was a coordinated effort to damage TMTG's reputation, degrade the firm's financial standing, freeze its access to capital, and torpedo the anticipated merger between Digital World Acquisition Corporation ("DWAC") and TMTG," according to the complaint.

Previously: Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump's media group, sues Herald-Tribune columnist for alleged defamation

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The news organizations listed in the complaint include: the Miami Herald and its executive editor Alex Mena, the McClatchy Company, Reuters, Daily Mail, Newsweek, New York Daily News, MSNBC, Forbes, Axios Media, CNBC, Guardian News, Rolling Stone, Axios Media, The Daily Beast Company, G/O Media, Gizmodo, Salon.com, Mediaite, DMG Media LTD, Hollywood Reporter, Nexstar Media, The Hill, Deadline Hollywood, Accretive Capital, Benzinga, and MarketWatch.com.

The Sarasota Herald-Tribune has reached out to several of the named news outlets for comment regarding the lawsuit.

A Reuters spokesperson in a statement sent to the Herald-Tribune disputed the allegations that Reuters defamed or intended to harm TMTG.

“We dispute any allegation that Reuters defamed TMTG or intended to harm TMTG. We corrected our mistake as soon as TMTG made us aware of it, consistent with the Thomson Reuters Trust Principles. Reuters remains committed to reporting news fairly and accurately in the public interest.”

A spokesperson for The Guardian responded to an email inquiry indicating the news outlet has no formal comment but directed a Herald-Tribune reporter to an update at the bottom of the original article.

"The headline and text of this article were amended on 21 November 2023. We regret that an earlier version misstated Truth Social’s loss since launch as $73m, when the figure recorded in the SEC filing is $31.6m," the update at the bottom of the story reads. "The article has also been corrected to reflect that Truth Social posted a profit of $50.5m in 2022, rather than a $50m loss as the article previously stated."

According to the complaint, Digital World Acquisition Corp. submitted a statement to the SEC on Nov. 13 about the planned merger, with Trump Media and Technology Group releasing a public statement about the news. According to media reports, the planned merger had been announced in October 2021.

The complaint states the defendants ignored or downplayed the public statements and had similar headlines announcing the supposed loss, and none of the outlets retracted the "defamatory articles" after TMTG contacted each organization on Nov. 14 to address the error. It is noted that some of the defendants have issued corrections or updates to their stories.

The planned merger is still expected to move forward, according to the complaint, but the company claims it has been deeply harmed by the "widespread misreporting across the entire media landscape." The harm includes eroded faith in the company's operations and management and has made it difficult to raise additional funds for the merger since existing and potential investors were concerned by the reports.

"TMTG intends to hold these reckless and malicious media outlets to account for their false reporting and for their seemingly coordinated effort to destroy TMTG and Truth Social," the complaint states.

Earlier this year, the CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, Devin Nunes, sued Sarasota Herald-Tribune columnist Chris Anderson, The Guardian, Penske Media Corp. and Will Wilkerson for compensatory and punitive damages for defamation and defamation by implication.

Gabriela Szymanowska covers the legal system for the Herald-Tribune in partnership with Report for America. You can support her work with a tax-deductible donation to Report for America. Contact Gabriela Szymanowska at gszymanowska@gannett.com, or on Twitter.

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: Trump's Media group sues 20 media outlets, seeks $1.5 billion for slander