'Truth Social is dead in the crib' after election win: analyst
Donald Trump's Truth Social platform may have its future as a viable — yet money-losing — site impacted now that the former president is headed back to the Oval Office, according to an analyst.
The media forum where he has regaled his hardcore MAGA fans since he was booted from Twitter after the Jan. 6 insurrection has little reason to continue existing now that he will have the White House bully pulpit from which to address the nation, make bold announcements and attack his enemies, according to Alex Kirshner of Slate.
He added that the Trump win could end up being his Truth Social investor's loss – particularly if he sells off a substantial amount of stock while the value is high and also takes his posts over to X — which would be a boost to his key supporter Elon Musk.
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As Kirshner colorfully put it: "Truth social is dead in the crib," which may be illustrated by the fact that the former president has stopped posting on it since election night, with his last post encouraging his fans in California to stay in line to vote.
"There is a paradox behind Trump’s win. Although his victory has already been good for Trump Media stock, his return to power is unambiguously horrible for Truth Social’s actual business," the analyst wrote.
"The business fundamentals of Truth Social have so far been untethered from its company’s stock performance, and I am not foolish enough to take a guess at when that dissonance will end. But Truth Social’s path to being a serious player as a social media platform is even longer than it was before Trump beat Kamala Harris."
Then there is the "X" factor.
"Trump returned to X in the latter weeks of the campaign and will surely remain there when he is back in the Oval Office," Kirshner wrote.
"The platform provides a bigger megaphone than Truth Social, and Elon Musk, its owner, is now Trump’s most important backer. There’s already strong evidence this won’t bode well for his social media company. Trump Media’s stock went down after Trump did a live audio call on X with Musk over the summer, though it has since rebounded."
The analyst suggested that the president-elect might be smart to cash in stock worth billions since the company "only blowtorches cash," with little income to show for it.
"He will not live forever, as much as it feels today like he will. Trump Media and Technology is a purposeless and ultimately valueless company, but it is currently an immensely valuable stock," he wrote, before hinting, "Why would he not take the opportunity, particularly when the investors who have gifted him this asset would be so enthusiastic to hold the bag?"
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