Trump Media Is Moving Into the Financial Services Industry
President Trump's social media company is moving to position itself as a financial services firm that will allow his supporters to put money into investment products geared to what the company has called the 'patriotic economy.'
Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of the Truth Social platform, said on Thursday that it had applied for trademark applications for a number of investment products, including several exchange-traded funds, which are similar to mutual funds.
The products, which Trump Media said would be available this year, will bear names such as 'Truth.Fi Made in America ETF' and 'Truth.Fi Bitcoin Plus ETF.' Trump Media applied late last year to trademark the Truth.Fi name, which it described in its application as a platform for financial custody services and trading in digital assets.
Mr. Trump and his family started embracing digital currencies last year by partnering with a new digital assets company called World Liberty Financial. Last month, the president said he was starting a memecoin — a type of cryptocurrency that is more of a novelty item than something more established like Bitcoin.
'We will continue to fine tune our intended product suite to develop the optimal mix of offerings for investors who believe in America First principles,' Devin Nunes, chief executive of Trump Media and a former congressman from California, said in a news release.
America First is part of the political movement associated with Mr. Trump. Broadly speaking, companies that espouse America First principles are marketing products that specifically cater to Mr. Trump's supporters or conservative causes. Some of these companies are advertisers on Truth Social.
Trump Media, which is publicly traded, has struggled to generate revenues from advertising on its Truth Social or streaming video platforms. Though Truth Social is Mr. Trump's primary online megaphone for communicating with the public, he has just over eight million followers on the platform. By contrast, he has 100 million followers on X, which is owned by Elon Musk, now a top adviser to the president.
Some of the financial products Trump Media intends to introduce may need approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission. Mr. Trump has nominated Paul Atkins, a former S.E.C. commissioner and a crypto advocate, to take the helm of the regulator.
Mr. Trump has no formal position with Trump Media, but he is the company's largest shareholder. A few weeks before Mr. Trump was inaugurated for a second term, he transferred his 115 million shares in the company to a trust controlled by his eldest son, Donald Jr., who is also a company board member.
Mr. Trump's shares are worth about $3.4 billion based on Trump Media's current $30-a-share price.
The company said it would be outsourcing much of the work on creating and managing the financial products to Yorkville Advisors, an investment firm in New Jersey, with which it signed a licensing agreement. Trump Media said Yorkville would also manage the process of getting any necessary regulatory approvals.
Last year, Trump Media entered into a so-called equity line of credit with Yorkville, an arrangement in which the firm can acquire discounted shares from the company in return for cash. The deal allows Yorkville to buy up to $2.5 billion worth of stock over a three-year period.
Yorkville specializes in investing in small companies. In 2012, the S.E.C. accused the firm of misvaluing its assets to hide losses from investors. But in 2018, a federal judge dealt a big blow to the S.E.C. by dismissing most of the civil fraud claims against Yorkville. The S.E.C. ultimately agreed to dismiss the matter entirely.
Mark Angelo, Yorkville's president, said in the Trump Media news release, 'We greatly value our position as a strategic financial partner to TMTG.'
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