Donald Trump Sues Former 'Apprentice' Contestants Over Alleged Mismanagement Of Truth Social

Former President Donald Trump has sued two co-founders of the parent company of his social media platform, Truth Social, claiming that they made mistakes that have cost him money. This lawsuit comes after Trump Media became a publicly traded company.

Before Trump's suit, the co-founders, Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, filed a complaint in Delaware in February to prevent the ex-president from taking actions that would allegedly lower their combined 8.6 percent ownership in the company.

The Republican Presidential hopeful is accusing Litinsky and Moss, who both competed on Trump's reality TV show "The Apprentice," of mishandling an attempt to take Trump Media public several years ago, putting the project "on ice" for more than a year and a half.

According to the Daily Mail, the pair are also accused of being involved in several attempts to obstruct Trump Media's eventually successful plan to become a publicly traded company, with their Delaware lawsuit being one of the attempts.

As we previously reported, the company merged with Digital World Acquisition Corp. and has now become known as Trump Media & Technology Group to trade under the "DJT" ticker, which is Trump's initials.

Since the company's stock market debut, shares have experienced significant fluctuations. With Tuesday's 6% gain to the closing price of $51.60, the company was valued at $5.9 billion.

Per the Daily Mail, Trump Media claims the co-founders have not earned their shares and intends to strip them of it. However, the co-founders accused Trump Media of attempting to dilute their stake in the company.

Litinsky feels he was removed from the board because he refused to hand over his ownership stake. He further asserted that Trump threatened to "blow up the company" if his demands weren't fulfilled.

The former president's Trump Media stock saw a startling $1 billion paper loss on Monday, following the disclosure in a filing that it had lost $58 million the previous year.

About 57% of the company is owned by Trump, but as of now, he is not allowed to sell shares for six months unless the board, which is heavily biased in favor of the business mogul, votes in favor of the sale.

Trump's lawsuit against the former "The Apprentice" contestants comes after a court granted his motion to pay less than half of his $454 million fine in his New York City fraud trial so he could begin the appeal process and stop the seizure of his assets and properties.

A New York appeals court reduced the fine to $175 million and granted him a 10-day deadline extension.

"We will abide by the decision of the Appellate Division and post either a bond, equivalent securities, or cash," Trump said on Truth Social in a reaction to the judgment.

He added, "This also shows how ridiculous and outrageous [Judge Arthur] Engoron's original decision was at $450 Million. I DID NOTHING WRONG, AND NEW YORK SHOULD NEVER BE PUT IN A POSITION LIKE THIS AGAIN. BUSINESSES ARE FLEEING, VIOLENT CRIME IS FLOURISHING, AND IT IS VERY IMPORTANT THAT THIS BE RESOLVED IN ITS TOTALITY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU!"

The 77-year-old took to Truth Social to blast New York Judge Arthur Engoron and Attorney General Letitia James.

He said, "I've just posted a 175 Million Dollar Bond with the sadly failing and very troubled State of New York, based on a Corrupt Judge and Attorney General who used a Statute that was never used for this before, where no Jury was allowed, my financial statements were conservative and had a 100% perfect caution/non-reliance clause, there were no victims (except me!), there was no crime or damage, there was only success and HAPPY BANKS."

Knight Specialty Insurance Company posted the $175 million bond. Following this development, one of Trump's lawyers, Alina Habba, stated that Trump now "looks forward to vindicating his rights on appeal and overturning this unjust verdict."

Before his bond reduction, Trump made a desperate plea to his supporters to help him raise the $454 million he needed. The former president's plea, delivered via a joint fundraising committee, urged backers to donate $20.24 to $3,300 or beyond.

In the message, Trump stated that AG James was after his properties and was particularly interested in the Trump Tower.

Showing his unhappiness at the thought of his property being seized, Trump declared in the piece, "KEEP YOUR FILTHY HANDS OFF OF TRUMP TOWER!"

He alleged that his legal troubles were a "witch hunt" backed by President Joe Biden, though Biden has previously denied involvement in Trump's legal matters.

"So before the day is over, I'm calling on ONE MILLION Pro-Trump patriots to chip in and say: STOP THE WITCH HUNT AGAINST PRESIDENT TRUMP!" the message also read.