Donald Trump’s Truth Social once offered a unique draw: exclusive content from the 45th president himself. That edge is now gone.
In an effort to boost his campaign, Trump has returned to Twitter—now rebranded as X—to re-engage with voters on the platform that helped him win the presidency.
This shift raises questions about the future of Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the financially troubled parent company.
TMTG’s viability has been closely linked to Trump’s political profile and his initials, DJT, which also serve as its ticker symbol.
With the loss of exclusive content, Truth Social risks becoming irrelevant in a crowded digital media market.
On Monday, TMTG shares hit a new all-time low, closing down 3.6% at $22.24 since its SPAC merger in March.
This decline precedes the end of a six-month lockup period in late September when Trump could potentially sell his 79 million shares, representing 60% of the outstanding stock.
TMTG could not be reached by Fortune for comment.
Why is Trump back on X?
The decision to return to Twitter/X comes at a critical juncture, as the 78-year-old is losing momentum to younger opponent Kamala Harris.
With the race neck-and-neck and a ground campaign he’s outsourced to donors to save costs, he seems to be getting increasingly worried.
Are you better off now than you were when I was president?
Our economy is shattered. Our border has been erased. We’re a nation in decline.
Make the American Dream AFFORDABLE again. Make America SAFE again. Make America GREAT Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024
Previously Trump had only returned to X to post his mugshot after owner Elon Musk reversed the ban imposed by legacy Twitter after Trump incited the violent January 6th Capitol riots.
Not even after surviving an attempt on his life did he return to post the image of him surrounded by Secret Service agents, blood running down his face and fist raised in the air.
But that was when pollsters had him romping to victory.
Trump can no longer afford to limit his reach to Truth Social, a company that refuses to disclose its own user numbers or the number of likely fake accounts run by bot farms.
In June, Trump joined ByteDance’s TikTok in June, a controversial move given his antagonistic relationship with China where its parent is based.
But TikTok is a platform for sharing videos, something he is less familiar with.
His presence there is sporadic, his follower count a fraction that of X and his viewership has dropped with the lack of fresh and engaging content.
On August 12th, he marked his return to X ahead of a two-hour-long discussion with Musk and has been regularly posting ever since.
Heavily loss-making TMTG’s business is getting worse, not better
The future of Truth Social remains uncertain, as its financial outlook was already bleak when Trump exclusively used the platform.
The parent company, TMTG, continues to be a financial drain. Its daily operational costs for R&D, staff, and general expenses are 73 times its revenue. Excluding a $226 million non-cash impairment, TMTG posted a $118 million net loss over six months on $1.6 million in revenue.
The situation is deteriorating: TMTG’s operating loss for the first half of the year increased 15-fold compared to last year, and revenue shrank by 30% from $2.3 million.
TMTG acknowledges its poor financials but claims its management focuses on enhancing features and user experience rather than key performance metrics. The company does not track or consider average revenue per user, ad impressions, pricing, or active user accounts in its business decisions.
“TMTG may decide to collect and report such metrics if they are deemed to significantly enhance investors’ understanding of TMTG’s financial condition, cash flows, and other aspects of its financial performance,” it said in its 10-Q filing earlier this month.
Finally, its independent accounting firm, the Colorado-based BF Borgers, was slapped with a lifetime ban for copy-pasting audits and forging dates. The SEC found it had committed “massive fraud” for over 1,500 regulatory filings over a two-and-a-half-year period to June 2023.
One rival, IAC media group chair Barry Diller, didn’t mince words about the startup in early April: “It’s a scam. Just like everything he’s ever been involved in.”
