Inside the Trump SPAC deal taking on Twitter, Disney, CNN and every major tech company

Now out of office, news regarding former President Donald Trump has been rather lacking from TechCrunch’s pages. He’s back.

News broke yesterday that Trump Media & Technology Group, a concern formed to take on a host of major technology and media companies, plans to go public via a merger with a SPAC. The blank-check company in question, Digital World Acquisition Corp., recently raised $287.5 million.

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The merger of Trump Media & Technology Group — TMTG from here on out — and Digital World will sport “an initial enterprise value of $875 Million,” with the potential for another $825 million in capital “depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination.”

Per the release disclosing the transaction, “Trump Media & Technology Group’s growth plans initially will be funded by DWAC’s cash in trust[.]”

Yeah, I’ll bet.

The former president has apparently decided that funding the company that bears his name would be too expensive, so he’s leveraging a SPAC to underwrite the effort.

Regardless of how we feel about that, we have to take this news item seriously. Because when the name of the company says “Media & Technology,” it apparently means it. An overview of the TMTG company shows huge aspirations — if limited evidence of actual progress. A quarter-billion dollars will certainly help.

First, some notes on the money in the deal. And then an overview of what TMTG wants to build.

Are we being punished?

Yes. Clearly.