Trump-Linked WLFI Files Major Defamation Lawsuit Against Billionaire Justin Sun

Justin Sun called it a “meritless PR stunt.” World Liberty Financial, or WLFI called it a lawsuit.

WLFI Vs. Sun: A Public Feud Goes Legal

The Trump-affiliated crypto project filed a defamation claim against the Tron founder on Monday, accusing him of running a deliberate campaign to trash its reputation and push its token price down.

According to the filing, Sun began making false public statements across media channels and social platforms starting April 12 — statements WLFI says were designed to manipulate sentiment, not raise legitimate concerns.

The lawsuit doesn’t come out of nowhere. Sun had been deeply embedded in the project. An entity linked to him bought $30 million in WLFI tokens back in November 2024, and he joined WLFI as an advisor around the same time. The relationship looked solid — until it didn’t.

Things began to crack when Sun allegedly tried to move his tokens to Binance in violation of the terms he had agreed to. WLFI responded by freezing the assets, citing a contractual right to do so. That freeze, the company says, was not a punishment — it was a protection.

Sun Fires Back With His Own Lawsuit

Sun did not take the freeze quietly. In late April, he sued WLFI first, claiming the company had wrongfully locked up tokens that were once worth $1 billion and stripped him of his voting rights. His lawsuit framed WLFI as the aggressor. WLFI’s defamation claim, filed days later, tells a different story.

Based on reports from the filing, WLFI alleges that after the freeze, Sun went public with misleading claims about the project’s governance and suggested there was a secret backdoor in its system.

The company says those claims ignored disclosures already available in its documentation. It also accuses Sun of using money to spread his message further — allegedly working with influencers and bot accounts to amplify his posts across social media.

Sun, for his part, confirmed he is aware of the lawsuit and said he stands by everything he did. He says he expects to win in court.

WLFI’s token briefly jumped 8% after news of the lawsuit broke. But that pop sits against a rougher backdrop — the token had already fallen 15% over the prior week and was down 35% over the past month.

The lawsuit asks the court to hold Sun financially accountable for damages tied to the WLFI token. How much that figure could reach has not been disclosed in reports so far.

What is clear is that two parties who once shared a business relationship are now fighting that battle in public — and in court.

Featured image from Unsplash, chart from TradingView