After being found guilty in a civil fraud case for inflating the value of his properties, former President Donald Trump is facing a $454 million fine. Amidst these legal battles, Trump put Truth Social on the stock market for financial backing, and the stock immediately soared past $7 billion.
The Civil Fraud Case
Over the last few months, former President Donald Trump has been entangled in a civil fraud case spearheaded by New York Attorney General Letitia James. The case alleges that Trump, his oldest sons, and the Trump organization engaged in fraudulent activities by inflating the value of their properties to secure more favorable loan terms.
The case found Trump and the co-defendants guilty of fraud and ordered them to pay $454 million, but they quickly appealed the court’s decision. Despite the initials ruling’s hefty fine, the New York appeals judge in charge of Trump’s case has temporarily halted a civil judgment against Donald Trump, delaying the payment and reducing the appeals bond to $175 million.
The First Step in Reversal
After the fine was halted, Trump’s lawyer, Charles Kise, said, “The ruling today represents a great first step towards the ultimate reversal of a baseless and reckless judgment.”
Kise went on to say, “The [appellate division] no doubt recognized the rule of law must triumph over the political agenda of the Attorney General. President Trump looks forward to a full and fair appellate process which overturns the judgment and ends the Attorney General’s abuse of power and tyrannical pursuit of the front running candidate for President of the United States.”
In response to the Judge’s decision and Trump’s lawyer’s statement, a New York Attorney General Letitia James spokesperson said, “Donald Trump is still facing accountability for his staggering fraud.”
The spokesperson continued, “The court has already found that he engaged in years of fraud to falsely inflate his net worth and unjustly enrich himself, his family, and his organization.”
The spokesperson concluded, “The $464 million judgment – plus interest – against Donald Trump and the other defendants still stands.” This is only one of many financial burdens placed upon the former president. It is clear Donald Trump needs money to move forward with his presidential campaign, and to many voters’ surprise, he may have found it.
Truth Social on the Stock Market
This past week, Trump Media & Technology Group debuted Trump’s social media network, Truth Social, on the New York Stock Exchange, and the price of the stock began to soar almost immediately. Shortly after being listed on the stock market, Trump Media reached a valuation of over $7 billion despite making few sales and taking significant losses.
People were quick to compare the soaring stock price to meme stocks like Gamestop or Dogecoin, where the massive price is driven up by political support rather than speculative trading strategies. Despite the initial price surge, Trump Media’s stock price eventually began to fall, highlighting the volatile nature of meme stocks, even when compared to the unpredictability of average stocks.
In order to get on the stock exchange, Trump Media also bypassed traditional IPO regulations through a backdoor listing that merged Trump Media with a shell company already listed as DJT. Due to the massive overvaluation of the business compared to Trump Media’s losses, many were quick to question the company’s long-term viability and the path to maintaining profitability.
Experts predict that Trump Media’s stock will continue to be volatile but ultimately trend downward and potentially reach bankruptcy. Given that Trump has had several businesses that remained volatile on the stock market until ultimately facing bankruptcy, the idea that Trump Media could follow the same path is far from surprising.
Trump Supporters
The massive stock price shows that Trump supporters are willing to inflate the price as a show of support despite the company’s uncertain financial outlook. However, there are restrictions that would prevent Trump from immediately capitalizing on the massive stock, and if he makes any significant sales, they could potentially deflate the stock price even further.
Even though Trump owns the majority of shares, since he can’t access the capital of the stocks, it looks like his money troubles are still far from over.
The post Truth Social Soars to $7B Valuation Despite Trump’s Legal Financial Troubles first appeared on Swift Feed.
Featured Image Credit: Shutterstock / Rokas Tenys.