Donald Trump’s Media Firm Sues 20 Outlets, Claiming They Published Incorrect Info About Truth Social

In a recent development, Truth Social, the social media platform backed by former President Donald Trump, is seeking $1.5 billion in damages from news organizations that falsely reported a substantial financial loss of millions. According to a report in Bloomberg, Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which owns Truth Social, filed a lawsuit on Monday, November 20, claiming that the reported figure was a complete fabrication.

These reports, based on a regulatory filing from Truth Social's merger partner, Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a special-purpose acquisition company, led to a flurry of inaccurate coverage. Notably, outlets including Reuters later issued corrections on their stories. The lawsuit names several media outlets, including The Guardian, The Hollywood Reporter, the Miami Herald, Reuters, Rolling Stone, The Hill, Deadline Hollywood, Benzinga, Axios, the Daily Beast, Salon, New York Daily News, Newsweek, MSNBC, Mediaite Daily, and CNBC, as filed in Sarasota County, Florida. TMTG alleges a "coordinated effort" by these outlets to tarnish its reputation and harm its financial standing.

Court filings reveal that the million-dollar loss cited by the media outlets does not appear in the SEC filings, leading to questions about the accuracy of the initial reports. Some of the publications mentioned in the lawsuit, including the Daily Mail, Reuters, Axios, Salon, New York Daily News, Newsweek, MSNBC, Mediaite Daily, and CNBC, have since updated or corrected their reports. Upon reporting the Miami Herald deleted its piece on the misinformation of Truth Social's image.

Trump Media and Technology Group's (TMTG) legal action highlights the ongoing lawsuit and its repercussions over financial reporting by media organizations. Adding to the development of a series of dramatic events, former White House attorney Ty Cobb has once again called Trump a "deeply wounded narcissist." Cobb asserted that the former president might go to jail because of his narcissistic actions. While speaking to CNN’s Erin Burnett, the ex-lawyer said, “I don’t think his first or second violation of the gag order will find him sent to jail, but I think ultimately, his narcissism will get the best of him. And he will violate it until he finds out what the limits of Judge Chutkan’s patience are.”

As reported by The Hill, Cobb also stated that he thinks the court will support Judge Tanya Chutkan's limited gag order in Trump's federal case concerning his purported attempts to hang onto power following his defeat by President Biden in the 2020 election. A panel of three judges appointed by Democratic presidents—Patricia Millett and Cornelia Pillard, both of whom were appointed by President Obama, and Brad Garcia, appointed by President Biden—considered the Republican leader's efforts to lift the gag order placed in the case. The legal order forbids Trump and his attorneys from using any language that might single out special counsel Jack Smith and his staff, court employees, or case witnesses.