Twitter Rival Trump's Truth Social Available On App Store On January 21

JAKARTA - Former US President Donald Trump immediately launched a social media application, Truth Social, on February 21. This launch plan was confirmed by Apple Inc.'s App Store, Thursday, January 6.

TRUTH Social, the alternative social media created by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) to rival Twitter (TWTR.N), will be available for pre-order in the US, before going official on the US President's Day holiday.

According to the demo photo of the app, Truth Social is very similar to Twitter. As reported by Reuters, the app offers a feature to follow other people and trending topics. His tweet-equivalent message would be dubbed the "truth".

The launch of the app will come exactly 13 months after Meta Platforms Inc's Facebook and Twitter banned Trump from using their apps. Trump has been accused by both platforms of encouraging his supporters to participate in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol Building for making unsubstantiated claims about widespread fraud in the 2020 US presidential election.

Marking the one-year anniversary of the attack, US President Joe Biden said Thursday, January 6 that his predecessor's false claims could undermine the rule of law and subvert future elections.

TMTG and Apple did not respond to requests for comment from Reuters, but a source familiar with the matter confirmed that February 21 was the planned launch date for the app.

According to the TMGT website, the launch is expected to be the first of three stages in TMTG's development. The second application is a subscription video-on-demand service called TMTG+ which contains entertainment, news and podcasts. A presentation to investors last November also indicated that TMTG is also looking to launch a podcast network.

TMTG is said to be worth 5.3 billion US dollars based on Digital World Acquisition Corp's share price, whose shares rose 20% immediately after Reuters reported that they would list the app on the App Store. Last October, TMTG agreed to merge with blank check company, DWOC, at a valuation of US$875 million.

Trump supporters and retail investors have taken stock of Digital World, and are betting that Trump's popularity with his Republican political base will translate into commercial success.

This acquisition deal actually faces regulatory risks. US Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren asked the Chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, Gary Gensler, last month to investigate a planned merger that could potentially violate securities laws surrounding capital disclosure. The SEC has declined to comment on whether they are planning any action to follow up on the report.

TMTG last month again raised an additional US$1 billion in investment from private investors.

Trump canceled a press conference at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Florida that had been scheduled for January 6, marking the one-year anniversary of the Capitol attack. Instead, Trump will instead deliver a speech at a rally in Arizona on January 15.