Former U.S. President Donald Trump聽 (AFP)
WASHINGTON 鈥� Former US president Donald Trump announced plans Wednesday to launch his own social networking platform called 鈥淭RUTH Social,鈥� which is expected to begin its beta launch for 鈥渋nvited guests鈥� next month.
The long-awaited platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video on-demand service that will feature 鈥渘on-woke鈥� entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.
鈥淚 created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,鈥� Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Capitol insurrection carried out by his supporters on January 6 this year, was quoted as saying in the statement.
鈥淲e live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable,鈥� he continued.
The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital Acquisition Corp to make TMTG a publicly-listed company, the statement said.
鈥淭he transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at an initial enterprise value of $875 Million, with a potential additional earnout of $825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to $1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination,鈥� it stated.
Ever since he was banned from the world鈥檚 dominant social networks as punishment for stirring up the mob that ransacked Congress on January 6, Trump has been looking for ways to reclaim his internet platform.
In May he launched a blog called 鈥淔rom the Desk of Donald J. Trump,鈥� which was touted as a a major new outlet.
But Trump, who was also banned from Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in the wake of the Capitol mayhem, canceled the blog just a month later.
Former Trump aide Jason Miller launched a social network called Gettr earlier this year, but the former president has not yet joined it.