Trump University prosecutor explains why TRUTH Social is a disaster for investors
In an extensive thread on Twitter, lawyer Tristan Snell, who prosecuted the Trump University case for the New York Attorney General's office, tweeted that the new social media network from the ex-president is a disaster for any investor.
Wednesday night on Fox News, Donald Trump Jr. did a kind of soft launch of TRUTH Social, the new Trump social media site. Already the site has been hacked and users were able to grab usernames like @MikePence and @DonaldTrump.
"Trump will have to make SEC filings for the first time ever," said Snell. "From a guy who is already under investigation for fraud and other misconduct — and had two other entities (Trump U, Trump Foundation) prosecuted for fraud. So, the SEC enforcement folks will be watching. Closely. Trump will also have to deal with Wall Street analysts and commentators nitpicking everything Truth Social does. He's banking on his own supporters buying the stock, freeing him from what the Street thinks. But they'll still rip it to shreds if it's losing money."
He noted that it's unclear what the funding model will be for the site, but if there is an ad-based model, he's not sure if there are enough large advertisers to use the website. If there are a lot of GOP users who end up using the site, it could become a way for Republican candidates to send money to Trump by advertising to the users of his site.
The greatest problem, however, is that with a "free speech" demand that promises not to silence anyone, candidates could run false videos against anyone, even Republicans.
"He's toxic to most of corporate America now - they don't want the drama. That leaves a subscriber model," Snell continued. "But will Truth Social keep a large base of subscribers if the site goes offline, looks janky, has no legit branded content, etc? Enough to sustain a public company? Will Trump's supporters really prop up Truth Social if it loses lots of money?"
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