DJT stock price rises on surprise news that Truth Social parent Trump Media is merging with TAE Technologies

In a surprising move, Trump Media and Technology Group (DJT) said on Thursday that it is fusing itself to a fusion company.

The company will merge with TAE Technologies—a privately held fusion energy firm that’s backed by Alphabet, Chevron Technology Ventures, and others—in a deal that’s worth more than $6 billion.

It’s an all-stock deal, which is expected to close sometime next year, and is a huge and eyebrow-raising move for Trump Media, which is best known as the owner of President Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social.

When all is said and done, shareholders of both companies will “own approximately 50% of the combined company on a fully diluted equity basis,” per the company release.

Following the announcement, DJT shares jumped nearly 30% during premarket trading. The stock was up almost 35% in early trading on Thursday as of this writing.

However, shares are down nearly 70% year to date, and are down roughly 92% from their peak in March 2022.

Why is this merger happening?

As for the logic behind the surprising merger, the combined company aims to build massive fusion power plants that can supply energy to power the ongoing AI boom. 

“In 2026, the combined company plans to site and begin construction on the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant (50 MWe), subject to required approvals,” the company’s statement reads. “Additional fusion power plants are planned and expected to be 350 – 500 MWe.”

It added: “Fusion power plants are expected to provide economic, abundant, and dependable electricity that would help America win the A.I. revolution and maintain its global economic dominance.”

Devin Nunes, chairman and CEO of Trump Media and a former California congressman, echoed the sentiment in a statement included in that release—in true Trumpian fashion.

“Trump Media & Technology Group built uncancellable infrastructure to secure free expression online for Americans, and now we’re taking a big step forward toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” he said, adding that “fusion power will be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the onset of commercial nuclear energy in the 1950s.”

Notably, there are not currently any operating fusion power plants. A report published in October by the Clean Air Task Force, a nonprofit environmental group, counts 29 fusion energy startups in the U.S. that have attracted significant funding in recent years.

Further, the latest annual survey from Fusion Industry Association found that 75% of respondents don’t expect fusion power plants to start supplying energy to the grid until the 2030s.