Truth Social, the recently established social media platform by Donald Trump, has filed a lawsuit against the Washington Post, targeting damages amounting to $3.78 billion for defamation. The legal action has been initiated by Trump Media and Technology Group, the entity that owns Truth Social. The lawsuit specifically alleges libel and slander against the Washington Post, which is under the ownership of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire founder of Amazon.
Trump’s ongoing mission to combat media misrepresentation and “fake news” has been ramping up in recent years in his personal life, as in addition to the lawsuit against The Washington Post, former President Donald Trump has initiated legal action against CNN and the New York Times in the past year. The lawsuit against CNN, filed for $475 million, accuses the network of defamation.
Similarly, the lawsuit against the New York Times, filed in 2021, revolves around an article from 2018 that Trump believes misrepresented his taxes and alleged criminal misconduct by his niece, Mary Trump. According to Trump, Mary Trump unlawfully obtained documents from an attorney’s office, which were subsequently published by the New York Times. Although Mary Trump is implicated in the lawsuit, potential consequences for her involvement remain uncertain. The New York Times, disgustingly, was honored with a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting on the leaked tax documents.
According to DC Enquirer:
The lawsuit filed by Trump Media and Technology Group, the owners of the Truth Social site, was submitted on Saturday night in a Florida state court in Sarasota County, where the company is based, and accuses the Jeff Bezos-owned news outlet of libel and slander against the social media platform, claiming that they posed an “existential threat” to the online site.
The suit specifically states that The Washington Post “published an egregious hit piece that falsely accused TMTG of securities fraud and other wrongdoing” and “has been on a years-long crusade against TMTG characterized by the concealment of relevant information in its possession.”
The suit highlights how this article promoted numerous false aspects that “injure[d] TMTG,” including discussing the backroom deals with the company and other aspects. The suit noted how this article was shared online with its 2.5 million subscribers and 20 million Twitter followers, causing the misinformation to spread even further. The article also takes note of small Twitter users that still had a sizable audience sharing the lies in the article.
The suit challenges the statements made in The Washington Post article, adamantly denying the claims saying they are “materially false.”
Following the aftermath of the Durham report, which revealed the Trump-Russian collusion story as entirely fabricated, it becomes apparent that the media’s inherent bias and lack of trustworthiness are widely acknowledged. The report’s findings demonstrate that the media, driven by political motives, is willing to disseminate unsubstantiated information to advance their agenda. From unethical reporting by the New York Times, to alleged lies propagated by CNN, and even the Washington Post allegedly spreading false information that could harm his social media venture, it is clear that the media has been actively seeking to undermine Trump ever since his election as president in 2016, and these efforts persist to this day.
