#tmtg

Oliver Willis at Daily Kos:

Donald Trump proposed on Saturday that current FBI Director Christopher Wray be replaced by pro-Trump loyalist and conspiracy theorist Kash Patel. Wray was appointed by Trump in 2017 and is slated to serve a 10-year term which would end in 2027. Replacing him ahead of time would require Wray to voluntarily retire or for Trump to fire him once he becomes president. Some Republicans have already expressed skepticism about replacing Wray. South Dakota Sen. Mike Rounds said on ABC’s “This Week” that he had not heard complaints about Wray’s leadership of the law enforcement agency. “The message, and one that I feel very strongly about, is that there is a constitutional separation. The Founding Fathers did that for a reason,” Rounds told the network.

Even though Wray was originally Trump’s pick, Trump has frequently complained that the FBI director has followed the law and authorized investigations into criminal behavior by Trump, his team, and pro-Trump rioters who attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6. Patel is a Trump devotee who previously worked as a DOJ prosecutor, exaggerating his role by claiming to be the “lead prosecutor” on the 2012 attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya. Patel was actually a junior staffer on the team. He went on to work as an aide for former Rep. Devin Nunes, who now heads Trump Media & Technology Group. In his role with Nunes, Patel fed Trump backchannel information on Ukraine that contributed to Trump’s plot to push that nation to help him smear his political opponents. Trump’s first impeachment was over his misuse of office in this effort. Trump rewarded Patel with jobs in the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and in the Pentagon. During this time, Patel authored a memo arguing that it was disloyal for then-Defense Secretary Mark Esper to oppose a request by Trump to deploy military troops against American citizens protesting police violence against Black people.

Adriana Gómez Licón at AP, via HuffPost:

MIAMI (AP) — The social media company founded by former President Donald Trump applied for a business visa program that he sought to restrict during his administration and which many of his allies want him to curtail in a potential second term. Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, filed an application in June 2022 for an H-1B visa for a worker at a $65,000 annual salary, the lowest wage category allowed under the program. Federal immigration data shows the company was approved for a visa a few months later. The company says it did not hire the worker. Filing for the visa sets the image of Trump the candidate, who has proposed a protectionist agenda for companies to “hire American,” in conflict with Trump the businessman, who has said his companies will use every tool at their disposal. Records show the investment firm started by Trump’s son-in-law and White House adviser, Jared Kushner, also filed an application and was approved to hire a foreigner as an associate under the same visa program.

[...] An H-1B visa petition can cost companies about $5,000 per employee. Companies can withdraw petitions even after being approved.

Trump Media Moves $205M in Bitcoin to Crypto.com

Lisa Needham at Daily Kos:

On Monday, President Donald Trump’s private media company launched a streaming service that features content from another private media company, which just so happens to have a White House press pool spot. Seems fine! Truth+ is the latest offering from Trump Media, a company that purports to be a multi-channel powerhouse but is really just a vehicle for Trump and his family to launch low-rent grift after low-rent grift.  Truth+ joins Trump Mobile, a low-rent cell phone plan; Truth.Fi, a low-rent financial services firm that will offer “America First” investments; and whatever other low-rent crypto grifts the Trump family is pushing these days. Anything for Trump to profit off of the presidency.  The new streaming service will feature Newsmax as a “flagship channel”, whatever that means. It’s genuinely pathetic that Newsmax, an outlet that has roughly 10% the viewership of Fox News, is going to be the star of the show. It’s also genuinely problematic that Trump is entering into a business partnership with a media company that he rewarded with a press pool spot despite Newsmax’s meager viewership. If this absolute rat’s nest of conflicts of interest wasn’t enough, how about the fact that the announcement of the launch boosted the stock price of both Trump Media and Newsmax? Other outlets in the Truth+ lineup include luminaries such as Real America’s Voice, One America News Network, and Patriot TV. It’s good that OANN got a spot, since its viewership has been so low that it got booted from cable TV. Maybe the combination of Truth+ and primetime host Matt Gaetz will make the magic happen for the far-right network. 

Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) adds Truth+ to its grifting portfolio. Truth+ serves as the right-wing alternative to vMVPD providers, churning out conservative-friendly content from propaganda factories such as Newsmax, Real America’s Voice, OANN, and RSBN.

See Also:

May 1, 2025

Like every other business the omni-incompetent Donald Trump has ever attempted, his media and technology company, TMTG, has always been just inches away from total collapse. Debuting on NASDAQ in March 2024 at $79.38 a share, the company's stock price closed this past Friday at $25.99, down a half a point from the previous day.

TMTG is what's called a "meme stock" because its value primarily derives from Trump's popularity, not any intrinsic worth. But even Trump's ardent cultists can't keep propping it up forever. One hedge fund announced it was taking a $105 million "short" position on TMTG, betting that its stock price will fall still further. Meanwhile, Donald Trump Jr was recently paid $813,000 — nearly a quarter of the company's revenue — to be on TMTG's board.

Up to now, TMTG's only product has been a social media platform hilariously named Truth Social — this is, after all, the website from which Trump broadcasts his daily stream of contemptible lies. But Truth Social, it seems, is definitely struggling.

By December 2024, fewer than one million people were using it daily (for X/Twitter, it's about 245 million). One survey revealed that only 2% of US adults used the platform to get news. So, it's not surprising that in February TMTG reported a loss of more than $400 million from the previous year, reflecting a 12% drop in revenue.

Now, in an effort to wring a few more dollars out of his MAGA marks, Trump announced last week that TMTG was launching a series of actively managed investment accounts, all of which are supposedly aligned with his America First agenda.

Naturally, Trump remains the majority shareholder in TMTG. Thus, he will not only benefit from the investment returns of the company's "Truth Social-branded Separately Managed Accounts," he'll also benefit from the fees generated by these accounts. Plus, he'll make money by inflating the sagging value of TMTG's stock.

These investment vehicles also include cryptocurrency, by the way. A move intended to pump up his meme coin, $TRUMP, which was launched prior to his inauguration in January and could sure use the help. From a January high of $74.59, its price has since nosedived to around $12.24. More trading in his bitcoin would most likely generate more millions for Trump.

Recently, President Donald Trump’s media company, Trump Media & Technology Group, announced a new milestone in expanding its financial services portfolio. In partnership with Crypto.com, the company is set to launch a series of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) and additional digital products under the brand Truth.Fi. The news generated significant interest in the financial markets, with the company’s stock rising by 10.5% after market close, despite a 38% decline over the past 12 months.

Partnership with Crypto.com and ETF Launch

According to the official statement, the proposed ETFs will be accessible via the broker-dealer Crypto.com Foris Capital. These funds will encompass not only digital assets but also traditional securities, with a focus on ventures that embody the “Made in America” ethos across multiple industries. The Truth.Fi products are scheduled to launch this year, targeting international markets including the United States, Europe, and Asia.

Crypto.com is expected to serve as the technical partner by providing advanced server technologies, secure storage solutions, and cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Cronos to support the ETF infrastructure. This development follows the initial introduction of the Truth.Fi brand in January, coinciding with a peak period in the cryptocurrency market.

Implementation Steps of the New Product

Development of the infrastructure in collaboration with Crypto.com

Design and integration of ETFs featuring both digital assets and “Made in America” securities

Pilot testing in select international markets

Official rollout of the Truth.Fi financial services

Key Areas of Cooperation

Integration of cutting-edge server technologies

Provision of high-security storage for cryptocurrency assets

Expansion of the investment product range for a global audience

Analytical Perspective on Future Prospects

The innovative partnership between Trump Media & Technology Group and Crypto.com underscores a strategic move towards establishing a strong presence in the financial services and FinTech sectors. Amid a growing demand for diversified investment instruments and digital assets, the launch of ETFs under the Truth.Fi brand represents a logical extension of the company’s efforts to enhance its product portfolio. While stock performance has presented challenges, the integration of modern technologies and the expertise of strategic partners may pave the way for sustainable growth in a competitive market.

The initiatives outlined highlight the importance of strategic alliances and the deployment of advanced technological solutions, both of which are crucial factors in today’s dynamic financial markets. In the coming months, an increase in international market activity could potentially reshape the competitive landscape for financial service providers.

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