Warning signals are multiplying around Trump’s social network

Worrying signals about the financial health and prospects of Donald Trump’s social network, Truth Social, are increasing, just six months after the launch of the platform, whose traffic is modest. Fox Business Network reported on Thursday (August 25) that the company had halted payments to its host, RightForge, and racked up a slate that now stands at $1.6 million. Asked by AFP, the parent company of Truth Social, Trump Media and Technology Group, and RightForge did not respond.

In addition, the merger of TMTG with the listed vehicle Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), which should allow it to receive fresh money, is slow to materialize, 10 months after its announcement. Thursday, DWAC published the notice of convocation to its extraordinary general meeting, on September 6, during which the shareholders will be called upon to validate the postponement by one year of the deadline for achieving this union, to September 8, 2023. They warn that, in the absence of a favorable vote, the company “would be forced to dissolve”.

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If successful, the merger is expected to inject around $1.25 billion into TMTG, although some investors may still opt out and reduce the envelope. According to financial statements released on Tuesday, DWAC only had $3,000 in available cash at the end of June, the amount raised on the stock market being blocked pending the merger. DWAC is under investigation by US federal authorities, who have submitted their evidence to a grand jury for a possible criminal trial. The company is also under investigation by the SEC.

Launched at the end of February, Truth Social aims to be an alternative to the major social networks, Twitter in particular, from which Donald Trump has been suspended since the beginning of January 2021, with freedom of expression as its leitmotif. But six months after its debut, the platform appears only in thirtieth position of social network applications in the ranking of downloads on iPhone, published by Apple. According to the Statista database, the app is only downloaded about fifty thousand times per week. The former US president’s account has 3.91 million followers on Truth Social, but the figure still falls short of his 79.5 million Twitter followers at the time of his suspension.

DWAC lost 2.42% on Wall Street on Thursday. The value of the title has melted by 71% since its peak of the year, at the beginning of March.