Former President Donald Trump’s social media venture, Truth Social, received a last-minute lifeline today, as over 65 percent of shareholders in Digital World Acquisition agreed to grant an one-year extension for the company to finalize its merger with Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, and go public as a combined firm on Nasdaq.
The agreement was reached with only three days left until Truth Social’s Sept. 8 liquidation deadline. Had the extension not been approved, Digital World would have had to return $300 million to shareholders, leaving the former president bereft of crucial funding for his platform’s operations.
Truth Social has attracted many conservative users since its launch in early 2022 and has an active user base of around two million. Trump has frequently posted on the platform since he was banned from Twitter for his tweets surrounding the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot. He has only posted his Aug. 24 mug shot on X (Twitter’s new name), even though he was reinstated by Elon Musk, the company’s owner, last year.
The road to finalizing the merger, however, remains dotted with challenges. For example, the Securities and Exchange Commission in July accused Digital World of misleading investors in official documents related to the merger. To move forward, the company must refile these documents and submit its quarterly financial statements to the SEC for the first half of 2023.
After the extension was approved, Digital World’s CEO, Eric Swider, posted on Truth Social, “Thank you for all of the outstanding support. Please understand my silence. We remain focused on the task at hand and are watching every word we say.”
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