Trump campaign manager quietly drops defamation suit against the Daily Beast | Trump administration
An executive responsible for Donald Trump’s 2024 presidential bid has dropped a high-profile lawsuit against the Daily Beast, 10 months after he complained that the news outlet defamed him when reporting on his campaign spending.
The Daily Beast said Chris LaCivita, who ran the campaign that led to Trump’s second presidency, quietly dropped the lawsuit on Friday. The publisher said it did not retract the story, did not apologize and did not pay any cash to LaCivita.
The lawsuit alleged that The Daily Beast fabricated claims about campaign compensation and deliberately damaged LaCivita’s professional reputation in its reporting about the millions of dollars her company received from the Trump campaign.
LaCivita said the Daily Beast’s reporting created “the false impression that he personally over-profits” and prioritizes personal gain over campaign success. The lawsuit did not specify the compensation sought, but it said: “It is estimated that it will cost millions of dollars to repair Mr. LaCivita’s reputation.”
Despite this rise, the case will no longer proceed. This represents a pretty big turnaround from last March for LaCivita. said legal action“Fuck you and explore,” and claimed: “I’m really looking forward to presenting my case in front of the jury.”
The case centered on a series of reports from the Daily Beast that suggested LaCivita had “collected” huge payouts; these included an article by journalist Michael Isikoff titled “Trump in Cash Crisis – Campaign Chief’s $22 Million Salary Revealed.”
LaCivita said the news damaged his personal reputation. The lawsuit claimed that the multimillion-dollar figure represented gross campaign advertising expenditures, not personal income.
After initial requests for corrections from LaCivita’s legal team, the Daily Beast amended its report, reducing the alleged compensation to $19.2 million and disclosing that the funds went to LaCivita’s consulting firm. But the lawsuit argues that those changes did not adequately address the fundamental misrepresentation.
LaCivita’s lawsuit against the Daily Beast was one front in broader legal disputes pitting Trump and those in his orbit against media outlets; It generally focused on insult complaints. Trump and his allies have had to resort to lawsuits for years to challenge journalistic coverage they perceive as hostile or inaccurate.
As The Daily Beast noted, The Atlantic reported In November 2024, Trump angrily questioned LaCivita about the monetary figure for which she would eventually sue while they were both on a campaign plane. Trump told LaCivita, “You should sue these bastards,” and later sarcastically referred to him as “my 22 million dollar man,” according to the Atlantic.
