Trump Media & Technology Group

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp.
Company type	Public
Industry	Media, Technology
Founded	February 2021; 5 years ago
Founder	Andy Litinsky, Wes Moss
Headquarters	Sarasota, United States
Area served	United States
Key people	Devin Nunes (CEO), Donald Trump Jr. (Board member), Robert Lighthizer (Board member), Kash Patel (Board member), Linda McMahon (Board member), Scott Glabe (Board member)
Products	Truth Social, TMTG+
Owner	Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust
Website	www.tmtgcorp.com

Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (TMTG) is a U.S.-based media and technology enterprise headquartered in Sarasota, Florida. The company operates the Truth Social platform and is primarily owned by the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.

Established in 2021 by Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, TMTG became a public company on March 26, 2024, following its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC).

History

After President Donald Trump was banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, in the wake of the January 6 United States Capitol attack, he introduced "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump" in May to communicate his views; however, this platform was discontinued within a month.

The incorporation of Trump Media & Technology Group occurred in February 2021. Subsequently, on September 3, 2021, Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a SPAC, commenced trading on Nasdaq following its initial public offering of 25 million shares. DWAC was formed with assistance from ARC Capital, a Shanghai-based entity recognized for bringing Chinese firms to U.S. markets and currently under SEC scrutiny for alleged misrepresentation regarding shell companies. Until December 2021, DWAC's association with China Yunhong Holdings linked it to China, after which these connections were terminated.

In October 2021, Donald Trump announced TMTG’s establishment via a SPAC merger with DWAC, aiming to take TMTG public and develop a social media network competing with Twitter. Although DWAC raised several hundred million dollars, it encountered regulatory examination over its investors and potential securities law breaches related to pre-listing fundraising activities. In December 2021, TMTG obtained $1 billion through private investment in public equity (PIPE) funding and collaborated with Rumble for technological infrastructure and cloud services supporting Truth Social as well as TMTG+, a forthcoming subscription streaming platform. Both the SEC and FINRA initiated investigations into communications between the SPAC and TMTG.

The board of TMTG features Donald Trump Jr., Devin Nunes—who resigned from Congress in December 2021 to assume the role of CEO in January 2022—and former officials from the Trump administration including Robert Lighthizer, Kash Patel, Linda McMahon, and Scott Glabe.

Truth Social officially launched on February 21, 2022. By April 2023, Donald Trump disclosed earnings under $201 from his involvement with TMTG. On June 8, 2022, Trump and five additional board members resigned amid subpoenas issued by the SEC and a Manhattan grand jury investigating corporate conduct. The DWAC merger vote was postponed multiple times due to insufficient shareholder approval, extending into September 2023.

Throughout 2023, TMTG confronted various financial and legal obstacles. New York authorities investigated potential anti-money laundering infractions involving $8 million connected to a Russian oligarch. In July, TMTG resolved SEC fraud allegations for providing misleading information to investors by agreeing to an $18 million penalty upon finalizing the merger. A filing by DWAC in November 2023 expressed significant concerns regarding TMTG’s financial sustainability, reporting cumulative losses of $31.5 million since inception. On November 21, 2023, TMTG initiated a $1.5 billion lawsuit against twenty media organizations over inaccurate reports claiming a $73 million loss; corrected data indicated an actual net loss near $31.6 million since launch.

On March 22, 2024, shareholders of DWAC approved the merger with TMTG; completion occurred on March 25 with the combined entity trading under the ticker DJT at an $8 billion valuation. Robert Lighthizer and Linda McMahon serve as independent directors. An SEC filing dated April 1 revealed that TMTG incurred losses exceeding $58 million during 2023 while generating merely $4 million in advertising revenue from Truth Social. Following criticism of auditor BF Borgers for regulatory issues, TMTG replaced this firm in May 2024.

For the first quarter of 2024, TMTG reported a net loss amounting to $327.6 million on revenues totaling $770,500. In July 2024, TMTG was added to both the Russell 1000 and Russell 3000 indexes and raised $105 million through warrant exercises. Shortly before an assassination attempt targeting Donald Trump in July, Austin Private Wealth submitted then amended a report disclosing a substantial short position in TMTG shares.

By September 23, 2024, DJT stock had declined to $12.15 from a peak of $79.38 reached in March but regained much of this value by late October. On Election Day, November 5, trading was suspended twice due to market volatility.

On December 19, 2024, Donald Trump transferred nearly 115 million shares valued at approximately $4 billion into a trust controlled by Donald Trump Jr., aiming to mitigate conflicts of interest.

On January 28, 2025, six directors—Kash Patel, Linda McMahon, Robert Lighthizer, Eric Swider, Kyle Green, and Donald Trump Jr.—each received close to 26,000 shares as compensation.

Truth Social

Truth Social, a social networking service launched by TMTG on February 21, 2022, was introduced as a rival to Twitter, initially available on iOS. The platform encountered recruitment difficulties attributed to its political associations. Following a troubled rollout, several senior technology leaders resigned in April 2022. On April 22, 2022, Truth Social transitioned its website and applications to utilize Rumble's cloud hosting services. Later that same month, DWAC's stock price dropped by 44% after Elon Musk disclosed a substantial Twitter shareholding and acquisition intentions, which analysts suggested could weaken Truth Social’s competitive stance.

Bitcoin treasury

On May 27, 2025, TMTG revealed intentions to establish a "bitcoin Treasury" by raising funds through the issuance of stock and convertible bonds aimed at acquiring $2.5 billion worth of bitcoin. This initiative would elevate TMTG to become the third-largest corporate holder of bitcoin. Earlier in the year, former President Trump signed an executive order to create a strategic bitcoin reserve for the United States.

Trump departure as chairman

Florida state documentation from July 2022 disclosed that Trump stepped down as TMTG chairman less than a month before the company received subpoenas from the SEC and a New York grand jury linked to investigations into DWAC. Alongside Trump, Donald Trump Jr. and former administration official Kash Patel also resigned from the board. Although Truth Social contested these claims, filings with the Florida Division of Corporations confirmed Trump's removal from the board occurred between late April and early June 2022.

Investigation of alleged Russian financial connections and alleged money laundering

In March 2023, The Guardian reported that in 2022 the Southern District of New York (SDNY) broadened its criminal inquiry into whether TMTG was involved in money laundering. In late 2021, amid threats of collapse due to delays in its merger with DWAC, TMTG obtained an $8 million loan disbursed in two installments. This included $2 million from Paxum Bank, partly owned by Anton Postolnikov who is connected to Aleksandr Smirnov—a former Russian official now heading maritime company Rosmorport. The remaining $6 million came from ES Family Trust, which shared a director with Paxum Bank. The loan was structured to automatically convert into common equity of TMTG upon completion of the SPAC merger—potentially granting ES Family Trust an equity stake if finalized—though this arrangement was not disclosed to SPAC investors or the SEC.

According to The Washington Post, the federal investigation into DWAC investors revealed connections to efforts involving asset transfers from Russia, Ukraine, and China through intermediaries located in jurisdictions such as the Caribbean, Hong Kong, the UK, and Belize. A government transcript characterized this method as "the full Singapore with a double dip," referring to layering financial activities across multiple jurisdictions like the UK to enhance opacity and apparent legitimacy.

Lawsuits since 2024

In February 2024, United Atlantic Ventures (UAV), co-founded by TMTG executives Andy Litinsky and Wes Moss, filed suit against TMTG alleging dilution of their ownership stake after the company increased authorized shares from 120 million to 1 billion, reducing UAV’s holding from 8.6% to below 1%. The complaint claimed that Trump pressured Litinsky to transfer shares to Melania Trump and sought his removal when he resisted. The next day, Arc Capital initiated litigation against DWAC over share-related disputes. A judge granted summary judgment favoring Atlantic Ventures LLC.

In March 2024, DWAC and Trump initiated legal action against former CEO Patrick Orlando and Arc Global Investments II for extortion and damage to reputation; Orlando and Arc responded with counterclaims concerning a miscalculation involving two million shares. On March 24, Trump sued Litinsky and Moss seeking forfeiture of stock, accusing them of obstructing efforts to take TMTG public. The court found Arc Global had breached an agreement and awarded them over half a million additional shares but dismissed fiduciary duty claims and reduced Orlando’s share entitlement. Litigation related to the stock theft case against Arc was paused in January 2025.

In February 2025, Trump Media along with video platform Rumble filed a lawsuit against a Brazilian supreme court justice alleging infringement on free speech rights of a far-right Brazilian influencer residing in the United States.

External links

Official website of Digital World Acquisition Corp.