Trump in Line for $3 Billion Windfall as Truth Social Goes Public

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Truth Social is going public. In a Friday vote, the social media company’s blank-check funding partner — Digital World Acquisition Corp. — approved a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group.

The merger will be a lifeline to Truth Social, which incurred tens of millions in losses in 2023, and provide a massive windfall to its owner, former President Donald Trump. Given the current stock market value of Digital World Acquisition Corp., the combination of the two companies could net Trump a staggering $3.6 billion in shareholder value.

As he’s currently drowning in a sea of legal bills, the merger may become a critical source of cash-on-hand for the former president, with one major caveat: He would only be able to cash out on his shares six months after the union officially goes public.

For weeks now, Trump’s attorneys have been claiming that the former president does not have the money on hand to post a $464 million appeal bond required to prevent the state of New York from enforcing a $355 million civil fraud judgment against him. Trump likely won’t be able to leverage Truth Social to bail him out as he scrambles to pull together the funds to post his fraud bond. But access to $3.6 billion may go a long way towards funding his legal defenses in the various criminal trials Trump is expected to undergo this year.

He might not even need to use his own money to foot his legal bills, though. On Thursday, the Associated Press reported that Trump has struck a fundraising agreement with the Republican National Committee that places the committee third in line behind Trump’s campaign and his primary PAC before they get a cut of any donations. Much of the cash infusions into Trump’s campaign and political action committees have been directed towards paying off his legal expenses.

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