The future of the former president’s 10-month-old social media platform, Truth Social, is on uncertain ground as the app faces huge financial losses and is accused of short-circuiting its suppliers amid Donald Trump’s ongoing legal battles. A planned merger between Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the business that created the platform Truth Social, and special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Digital World Acquisition Corp, has been put on hold indefinitely as the Securities and Exchange Commission investigates the platform’s business transactions . SPACs like Digital World are companies formed either to raise capital through an initial public offering or to merge with an existing company. SPACs have no other commercial activities. In an SEC filing earlier this month, Digital World said it had “neither engaged in any business nor generated any revenue to date,” as its sole purpose was to prepare to take Truth Social public. In another filing, Digital World sought shareholder approval to delay the merger, which is set to take place on September 8, until next year, citing concerns about the former chairman’s reputation potentially affecting business. “If President Trump becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility or people’s desire to use a platform associated with him and from which he derives financial benefits, the results of TMTG’s operations, as well as the outcome of The proposed business combination could be adversely affected,” the filing said. Digital World’s stock has fallen more than 75% since its peak in March — from a high of $97.54 a share to $27.52 each — and in a recent SEC filing the company said it lost 6, 5 million dollars in the first half of the year. This week, Truth Social was dealt another blow as its trademark application was rejected on Thursday for being too similar to another social app called “Vero — True Social.” Further shedding light on the social networking platform’s financial woes, Fox Business News reported Thursday that Truth Social is locked in a bitter battle with its vendor, RightForge, and is accused of cutting the hosting service from $1.6 million to contractually obligated payments. Three people with direct knowledge of the matter told Fox Business News that Truth Social made just three payments to RightForge for its web hosting services and stopped making payments in March. Other Trump businesses have faced similar payment battles in the past, including contractors who claim they were unpaid for more than $2.98 million after repairs to the Trump International Hotel and a small business owner who said Trump bilked him of $100,000 worth of pianos . Unpaid bills at the Taj Mahal Casino Resort totaled $90 million, while three liens were placed on Trump’s DC hotel after $5 million in contractor fees went unpaid. Trump’s companies have filed for bankruptcy at least six times — a fact noted by Digital World in SEC filings, the Washington Post reported, saying: “some companies associated with [Trump] have filed for bankruptcy” and that “there can be no assurances that [Trump’s media company] it won’t go bankrupt either.” Representatives for Trump, TMTG, Truth Social and RightForge did not immediately respond to Insider’s requests for comment.
