Donald Trump's Truth Social Project Gets Investor Approval

Donald Trump initiator Truth Social (photo: X @potus45)

JAKARTA - On Friday 22 March, former US President Donald Trump approached the huge profits from his company on social media after investors within the company acquired a blank check to approve a merger worth around 89.514 billion rupiah.

In the agreement, Trump's majority stake in the company that oversees the Truth Social app is estimated at around 51.747 billion rupiah. This huge profit could be very important for Trump, who is facing the financial impact of a series of legal cases on him, including a decision of 7.128 billion rupiah in a civil fraud case in New York.

Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC) shareholders, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) planning to list Trump Media & Technology Group in the stock market through a merger, approved the deal on Friday.

However, the next step is to finalize the deal next week, whose future is full of uncertainty. Former Digital World CEO Patrick Orlando and former Trump business associates Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss have filed a separate lawsuit asking for more shares in recognition of their contribution to the previous deal.

While it is not yet clear how and when these cases will be resolved, Trump will not be allowed to sell his shares in the joint company for six months or borrow with the stock guarantee, based on previously agreed terms.

This agreement will also provide a vital cash injection of 4.706 trillion rupiah to Truth Social which is part of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG). This social media company suffered an operational loss of 1.663 trillion rupiah in the first nine months of 2023 with an income of 533.868 billion rupiah.

Based on the recent trading of Digital World shares, TMTG will be assessed at around 89.514 billion rupiah after the merger with Digital World, and even reach 135.049 billion rupiah if it takes into account the shares to be executed and the shares to be issued.

However, this deal also faces challenges. Since 2021, Digital World has been the target of an investigation by the US Department of Justice and the Securities and Stock Exchange Commission (SEC), sacked Orlando as its CEO, and rocked the company's board of directors structure.

TMTG launched with the help of Litinsky and Moss as a way for Trump to connect with his supporters after Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube removed his account following the US Capitol attack on January 6, 2021.

Nonetheless, the project has faced obstacles and delays since 2021. Digital World has been the target of an investigation by the US and SEC Department of Justice, sacking Orlando as its CEO, and shaking the company's board of directors structure.

Despite this, Trump still has confidence in the project, where he will own between 51.747 billion to 61.835 billion rupiah shares of the combined company, depending on investor support for the deal.

With all these events, Trump's social media project continues to run, providing an attractive alternative for users on social media networks.