President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform was slammed as an "unsuccessful and money-losing Twitter competitor" in a Mother Jones article Tuesday.
Yet to him, it remains a valuable tool keeping his cash flow moving and his administration in line, the report claimed.
According to senior reporter Anna Merlan, "The company that owns TruthSocial, Trump Media & Technology Group, has also been a way for the president to draw his political allies closer, through payments, board seats, and generous stock rewards."
The Trumps see the company as a sort of piggy bank, with Merlan writing, "TMTG paid Donald Trump Jr. $813,000, a quarter of TMTG’s 2024 annual revenue, 'just for showing up at board meetings,'" and "CEO Devin Nunes, a former California Republican congressman, has made at least $6.3 million running the company since 2022 — 'a stunning figure for a firm that is struggling to earn any money.'"
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Merlan writes that the publicly-traded TMTG "is unlikely to ever become a real success outside of the Trump universe," but it provides a valuable service to those seeking a window into Trump's transactional presidency and how he and his administration dabble in "unprecedented mingling of his corporate and political fiefdoms."
For example, Merlan writes that "three people who have held shares or served on the board of TMTG have been appointed to high-profile positions in the Trump administration: Attorney General Pam Bondi, FBI director Kash Patel, and Secretary of Education Linda McMahon." Trump has appointed "at least four others with TMTG ties to federal roles," Merlan writes, but none has filed paperwork to divest from the company as they promised to.
Tony Carrk, the executive director of the government watchdog Accountable U.S., told Mother Jones, “The unprecedented situation of president Trump rewarding investors and executives in his media company with administration jobs sends a clear message to the wealthy, corporate lobbyists and foreign interests that the road to influence in the United States runs through Trump Media."
He continues, “No one should be surprised that president Trump’s first weeks in office have been about removing barriers to corruption and dismantling oversight, not about lowering costs for working families. Trump cares more about lining his own pockets and his wealthy friends’ than putting money back into yours.”