Investors in Trump’s new app ‘only discovered he was involved after handing over millions’

Former President Donald Trump announced on Wednesday that he had secured $300m in funding for his new social media channel, Truth Social.

Trump has been keen to re-enter the public debate online since his ban from Twitter and Facebook following the Jan. 6 Capitol riots - but it is claimed that some investors who helped to fund the launch had no clue that the former commander-in-chief would be involved.

A New York Times report outlined how Trump’s partner within the deal is Digital World Acquisition Corp, which is a “special purpose acquisition company,” or SPAC.

SPACs are “so-called blank-check companies” that have grown in popularity in the investment sphere. It helps to sell “shares to the public with the intention of using the proceeds to buy private businesses.”

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“At the time that investors bought shares in Digital World, it had not disclosed what, if any, companies it planned to acquire,” the outlet added while noting that the website stated that there was a focus on partnering “with a leading tech company.”

The report quoted someone familiar with the matter who said one investor - Saba Capital Management - wasn’t aware at the time of the prior “public offering” that Digital World would conduct a transaction with Trump.

Trump - who has pushed lies about the 2020 election results and has a shaky relationship with the truth - says the focus of his new venture will be honesty and truth.

“I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech. We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced,” Trump wrote in a statement before adding it was “unacceptable.”