Donald Trump’s Woes Continue – First Political Uncertainty and Now Truth Social’s Debacle Leaves Trump $700 Million Poorer.

Donald Trump minces no words, and his frank speech attracted an equal number of supporters as non-supporters; however, his scandalous and fearless communication style did not go down well with Twitter and Facebook and after the riot at the US Capitol on January 06, 2021, both of which he was banned. 

However, Donald Trump is not one to sit out and do nothing; he came back with a bang and took his revenge since he was deprived form his primary means of communicating with his followers; he came out with an alternative to Twitter, dubbed Truth Social, the social media platform was launched in February 2022.

As he announced his alternative to Twitter, supporters piled into SPAC, Truth Social’s special purpose acquisition company, which meant that Donald Trump had successfully carved out a means of boosting his fortunes by billions. 

In the subsequent days, the shares of the SPAC, Digital World Acquisition Corp., rose from $10 to $175 in just two days, implying that the business was worth $22 billion, Trump’s interest amounting to $19 billion.

In December 2021, a bunch of big-money investors pledged to inject $1 billion in cash into the venture— but there was a catch they promised to invest only if they got a sweetheart deal. 

By then, the shares were being traded for $45 on the open market and under the agreement, the new investors would be ensured a profit if the shares stayed above $10. 

When estimating the value of Trump’s stake, Forbes used that $10-per-share figure to reach $730 million.

However, the hype never lined up with reality, and things have changed. Even Trump’s die-hard fans are not as excited by Truth Social as they once were. 

Truth Social: A Major Debacle 

Although Truth Social came in with a big bang and promised to be a highly successful and lucrative opportunity for not only Trump but also the investors, sadly, things did not pan out as envisaged. 

The Department of Justice, Securities and Exchange Commission, and Financial Regulatory Agency are currently – all examining the venture, closely scrutinising activities such as trading activity and communications between the SPAC and Trump’s business. 

Meanwhile, the SPAC, which fired its chief executive last month, only has until September 8 to complete the merger.

What further complicates matters is Elon Musk buying Twitter in October; once at the helm, he promptly reversed the ban on Trump and other right-wing figures, which utterly undermined the case that the world needed a more conventional version of Twitter. 

Today, shares of Trump’s SPAC are 92% off their highs, trading at $14 apiece, which suggests the former president’s business is worth $1.2 billion.

However, those studying the stocks say that this figure is absurdly high since barely anyone uses Truth Social. Before it launched, an investor presentation suggested the app would attract 81 million users by 2026. 

But even after more than a year after its launch, it has only an estimated 5 million. Given that Trump owns roughly 85% of the business and Twitter is worth an estima­ted $42 per user, the former president’s stake probably adds up to about $180 million today.

Even that might be too much. Truth Social is adding an estimated 100,000 users per month. If people continue to join at the current pace—and assuming that no one quits or dies—Truth Social will not hit its projected 81 million users until 2086. 

A Look Into Truth Social Figures

How Many People Are on Truth Social in 2023? How many users does Truth Social have? 

As of April 04, 2022, the social networking site’s daily active users (DAUs) hit 513,000, with an estimated 1.20 million sign-ups. Moreover, its peak number of daily downloads is 170,000, having 8,000 current downloads per day. 

Based on Forbes’ data, Truth Social has roughly 2.00 million monthly active users (MAUs). 

Truth Social is only available in the United States and has been marketed as an uncensored platform that would not discriminate against users for their political beliefs. 

On April 14, the former US president stated in an interview that he would not be returning to Twitter even as Musk expressed interest in unbanning him from the platform upon his takeover; however, that did not upturn the prospects of Truth Social.

Conclusion: Truth Social’s announcement met a colossal welcome, but things changed with Elon Musk buying Twitter.

Considering that Truth Social is adding an estimated 100,000 users per month even if people continue to join at the current pace—and assuming that no one quits or dies—Truth Social will not hit its projected 81 million users until 2086.

Until then, Trump would be 140 years old, meaning that Truth Social may most likely join the list of failed ventures – Trump Steaks, Trump University and GoTrump.com.