That’s pretty much what Truth Social is all about. Just Trump worship. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be enough:
The complex deal to take Donald Trump’s social-media platform Truth Social public faces a crucial test next week that could determine whether it becomes a multibillion-dollar company that the former US president once vowed would stand up to “big tech” or instead languish in financial limbo.
Under the terms of the deal, announced in October 2021, Trump’s Trump Media & Technology Group was destined to merge with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company, or Spac.
But shareholders in Digital World are now being asked to give the company another year to complete the deal. If they refuse to do so at a meeting on 8 September, the enterprise may never become the $1.7bn company it once envisioned.
The path to tech riches the deal floated for Trump and his supporters has not been smooth.
Jay Ritter, a University of Florida finance professor, told the Washington Post this week that the merger has “been pretty much unprecedented in terms of all of the glitches”. The Post published a detailed exploration of the platform’s current position, prompting Shannon Devine, a spokeswoman for Trump Media, to accuse the paper of posting “a heaping pile of bias”.
Soon after it was announced Digital World’s plan to merge with Trump Media was hit with allegations that conversations between the two had taken place before they were permitted under Spac rules.
In March, Patrick Orlando was fired as CEO by Digital World’s board and a former board member was accused of insider trading.
Deadlines for closing the deal have already been extended five times. Digital World is facing warnings from the tech-heavy Nasdaq stock exchange that its shares could be delisted over a reporting issue.
In July, Digital World’s shares rallied 93% before a preliminary $18m settlement with the Securities and Exchange Commission over accounting fraud charges.
Last month, the company and Trump Media urged investors to vote for an extension to prevent DWAC’s dissolution.
“If you are a DWAC stockholder who believes in Truth Social’s mission to reopen the Internet and give people their voices back, we strongly urge you to vote TODAY,” the notice said, Bloomberg reported.
But Trump Media has blamed regulators for the deal’s delays. Last year, it accused the SEC of working to “sabotage” the merger, telling the Washington Post that agency had tossed “the matter into a bureaucratic black hole of inaction” and violated its own charter.
Even his businesses whine and complain that everything is rigged against Trump. But if you look at that comment to Trump’s bleating above you can see that he’s such a martyr to his followers that it all serves to reinforce his position as the second coming.