Trump’s Truth Social Appears Officially F–ked, Thanks to Elon Musk Buying Twitter

Less than one month ago, we checked in to see how Donald Trump‘s social network, Truth Social, was faring after a shitshow of a launch and a not-good-at-all first couple weeks. Given that Trump was voted into the White House in part based on the lie that he was an extremely successful businessman, some people presumably harbored hope that the founder of Trump Steaks, Trump Mortgage, and Trump Taj Mahal had turned things around, and was well on his way to creating a company that would rival, as Truth Social initially promised, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, Netflix, and Google.

Of course, that’s not actually how things panned out at all. As of early April, two executives, one of whom insiders called the “brains” of the app, had reportedly quit, daily active users were reportedly clocking in at 513,000 (compared to Twitter’s roughly 217 million), downloads had “plummeted from a peak of 170,000…a day to just 8,000,” per The Daily Beast, there still wasn’t an app for Android users, the special purpose acquisition company meant to take Truth Social public was reportedly under federal investigation and its shares had dropped precipitously, and Trump, the founder of the company, had sent just one “truth,” telling followers to “get ready” to see more of him, before disappearing.

In other words, things were faring extremely badly. And now, in a hilarious turn of events, an existential threat has emerged that is so devastating, someone should just probably take Truth Social out back and put it out of its misery.

Obviously, we’re referring to Elon Musk buying Twitter, a deal that was made official Monday afternoon. Why is that bad for Truth Social? Well, for one thing, the company was formed as a direct result of Trump being banned from Twitter for inciting a violent insurrection, and Musk is nothing if not a troll who could let the ex-president back on the platform, damn the consequences. For another, Truth Social’s big pitch is that it’s a safe haven for conservatives to say whatever they want, which is something that Musk—who once used his account to accuse a British diver instrumental in rescuing a football team trapped in a Thai cave of being a “pedo”—has suggested he would be all about.

In other words, not only is Truth Social a crappy piece of technology relatively few people seem to be interested in—and one even Trump fans have publicly complained about—but its very reason for being may soon be moot. When The New York Times reported on this pesky Musk problem last week, Liz Harrington, a spokeswoman for Trump, pointed the paper to a mid-April interview in which the ex-president claimed he “probably wouldn’t have any interest” in rejoining Twitter if he could. But it’s important to remember that Trump is probably one of the biggest liars in the history of the universe, and at this point, his mouth seems to automatically default to bullshit independent of his brain. Of course he would rejoin Twitter given the chance! No one is more obsessed with Twitter than Donald Trump, who, as president of the United States, spent more time tweeting than actually running the country. This is a man who once tweeted 200 times in one day! There is almost no way that he would pass up the chance to terrorize as many people as possible with every single thought that comes into his head, especially if he decides to run again in 2024. And crucially, he has just one million followers on Truth Social, compared to the 89 million he once had on Twitter.

Of course, setting aside the Musk factor, as the Times notes, there’s also this:

[Parent company Trump Media & Technology Group] and Truth Social were facing significant challenges even without a competitor that could become more alluring to its prospective user base. The clock is ticking on Trump Media’s planned merger with Digital World Acquisition, a cash-rich blank check company that raised nearly $300 million in an initial public offering. If the companies do not complete their merger by September 8 or agree to extend the deadline, Trump Media is in danger of losing out on that money. More significant, investors in a $1 billion private placement to support the merger can pull out if the deal is not completed by September 20.

Five months is precious little time to complete the merger while also dealing with an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission, the regulator that must sign off on the deal.… The investigation has fueled growing skepticism about the deal’s prospects. Kerrisdale Capital, a prominent short-selling hedge fund—a firm that specializes in betting on a stock’s decline—issued a 27-page report on Wednesday that predicted the SEC would never sign off on the deal. Investor enthusiasm has also dampened: Shares of Digital World fell 17% [last] week, even after an 8% rally on Friday. The stock closed at $41, still less than half its $97.54 peak on March 4.

And in what appears to be extremely related news: