Trump’s media company has lost more than $320 million so far this year
The company, which owns Truth Social, took in just $770,000 in revenue in the first three months of 2024.
Trump Media and Technology Group Corp., which owns the former president’s Truth Social online platform, reported bringing in just $770,000 in revenue in the first three months of 2024, a number dwarfed by the more than $328 million the company lost in the same time period, according to an earnings report published on May 20.
The company attributed its large first-quarter losses to its merger with Digital World Acquisition Corporation, a so-called blank-check or special purpose acquisition company that was created specifically to help Trump Media go public. Digital World Acquisition Corporation was led by Patrick Orlando, who is also the CEO of a blank-check company based in Wuhan, China, CNN reported.
TMTG, which went public this year under the stock ticker symbol DJT for Donald J. Trump, has seen its stock price plummet, falling from $78 a share at its peak in March to $44 as of press time.
In its first-quarter filing, the company said it plans to become profitable by launching “a particular, state-of-the-art technology that supports video streaming and provides a ‘home’ for canceled content creators.”
Trump launched Truth Social in October 2021 after he was banned from Twitter and Facebook for violating the companies’ policies against inciting violence. Meta, Facebook’s parent company, specifically cited Trump’s “praise for people engaged in violence at the Capitol on January 6, 2021” as the reason for his banishment from the platform.
Both companies have since allowed Trump back; however, Trump has been using his Truth Social account, on which his account most recently shared a video that promised he would bring about a “unified Reich” if elected for a second term. The video was removed after widespread condemnation.
However, Truth Social has not caught on. As of March 24, the platform had 5 million monthly users, Axios reported, a tiny fraction of the 215 million monthly users of X, formerly known as Twitter.
“At this early stage in the Company’s development, TMTG remains focused on long-term product development, rather than quarterly revenue,” TMTG said in a news release announcing its quarterly earnings. “By adding features to Truth Social, launching live TV streaming, and building out its ecosystem, the Company aims to first develop a slate of best-in-class products that can then be leveraged to increase revenue and drive long-term value.”
