The SEC is investigating the Trump SPAC deal, one of many new right-wing tech ventures
Federal regulators are investigating a deal between former President Donald Trump's latest social media venture and the special purpose acquisition company — or, SPAC — taking said venture public, The Wall Street Journal reports Monday.
Once news of the deal was originally announced, media outlets wrote that Trump had met with the SPAC's chief executive — Digital World Acquisition Corp.'s Patrick Orlando — earlier this year, before the SPAC had raised money, per the Journal. If that meeting is found to have represented "substantive deal talks," it may be in violation of SEC rules, considering SPACs are not supposed to know what company they're taking public during the initial fundraising process.
Meanwhile, the Trump SPAC deal and the eventual resulting social media offering are just another example of how "conservatives are aggressively building their own apps, phones, cryptocurrencies and publishing houses in an attempt to circumvent what they see as an increasingly liberal internet and media ecosystem," Axios reports. And many of these ventures wouldn't exisit without big corporate donors or billionaires, some of which have also provided SPAC backing.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
For example, Rumble, a conservative YouTube alternative, will go public via a SPAC sponsored by Cantor Fitzgerald, "a financial services firm led by billionaire and Trump fundraiser Howard Lutnick," writes Axios. For those looking to avoid Twitter, you're welcome on Gettr, the free speech-focused conservative substitute created by ex-Trump aide Jason Miller.
And the right-leaning options don't stop there — these days, they stretch into book publishing, phones, and even cryptocurrency.
Eventually, writes Axios, all this innovation leads toward building "an entire conservative ecosystem." Read more at Axios and The Wall Street Journal.
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
'Horror stories of women having to carry nonviable fetuses'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Haiti interim council, prime minister sworn in
Speed Read Prime Minister Ariel Henry resigns amid surging gang violence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Today's political cartoons - April 26, 2024
Cartoons Friday's cartoons - teleprompter troubles, presidential immunity, and more
By The Week US Published
-
Justices set to punt on Trump immunity case
Speed Read Conservative justices signaled support for Trump's protection from criminal charges
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Biden is smart to keep the border-security pressure on'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Arizona grand jury indicts 18 in Trump fake elector plot
Speed Read The state charged Mark Meadows, Rudy Giuliani and other Trump allies in 2020 election interference case
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Voters know Biden and Trump all too well'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Who will win the 2024 presidential election?
In Depth Election year is here. Who are pollsters and experts predicting to win the White House?
By Justin Klawans, The Week US Published
-
National Enquirer helped Trump in 2016, ex-boss says
Speed Read David Pecker says the tabloid published fabricated content to hurt Trump's rivals
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Make legal immigration a more plausible option'
Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
By Harold Maass, The Week US Published
-
Sitting in judgment on Trump
Opinion Who'd want to be on this jury?
By Susan Caskie Published