Can Donald Trump Re-Establish a Presence on Social Media With Truth Social?

Former President Donald Trump is trying to get back into the social media game again, this time with Truth Social, an application set to debut in beta for “invited guests” next month. Information about the app and other initiatives were shared within the details of a definitive merger agreement between Trump Media & Technology Group and special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition, in which the latter will fund the former’s growth plans with the $293 million it raised by completing its initial public offering last month. The two companies said the transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at of $875 million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted), for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 billion, depending on the performance of the stock price post-merger. Trump Media & Technology Group said on its website that its “mission is to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the ‘Big Tech’ companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America.” The company said people interested in joining the invite list can sign up here, and Truth Social is available for pre-order via the iTunes app store, with plans for a nationwide rollout in the first quarter of 2022. Trump Media & Technology Group also shared plans for a subscription video on demand service, TMTG+, saying that it “will feature 'non-woke' entertainment programming, news, podcasts and more.” Former America’s Got Talent and Deal or No Deal executive producer Scott St. John will lead corporate operations at TMTG+. Twitter permanently banned Trump Jan. 8 in the wake of the violence at the U.S. Capitol two days earlier, and most of the other major social platforms followed suit. Trump’s initial attempt to return to social media was a blog called From the Desk of Donald J. Trump, which was part of his website for roughly one month before being removed permanently in June. There was a brief flurry of news in July about an app called Gettr, which is led by Jason Miller, a former spokesperson for Trump. However, despite speculation that Gettr would serve as Trump’s vehicle to re-enter the social media highway, he never established a presence on the platform, which faded into the background. Trump filed a request for preliminary injunction against Twitter in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida earlier this month, seeking the reinstatement of his @realDonaldTrump account. Trump, chairman of Trump Media & Technology Group, said in a statement, “I created Truth Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American president has been silenced. This is unacceptable. I am excited to send out my first Truth on Truth Social very soon. TMTG was founded with a mission to give a voice to all. I'm excited to soon begin sharing my thoughts on Truth Social and to fight back against Big Tech. Everyone asks me why doesn’t someone stand up to Big Tech? Well, we will be soon.” DWAC chairman and CEO Patrick F. Orlando added, "Digital World was formed to create public shareholder value, and we believe that TMTG is one of the most promising business combination partners to fulfill that purpose. DWAC currently has $293 million in trust, assuming minimal redemptions, which can fuel TMTG’s scale up, including to provide world class leading technology services to build strong and secure social networks and diverse media offerings. Given the total addressable market and President Trump’s large following, we believe the TMTG opportunity has the potential to create significant shareholder value.”

Politics

Can Donald Trump Re-Establish a Presence on Social Media With Truth Social?

The SPAC-backed Trump Media & Technology Group is rolling out the app in beta next month

David Cohen

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David Cohen