Donald Trump's Truth Social Merger Has 'Curious Timing': Legal Analyst

Former President Donald Trump's Truth Social merger has "curious timing," former federal prosecutor and legal analyst Glenn Kirschner said on Friday.

Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), an existing shell company, agreed to merge with Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), which owns Truth Social, on Friday, clearing the way for the former president's company to go public without all the hoops of a traditional initial public offering (IPO).

With 79 million shares, Trump now owns more than 50 percent of the post-merger company. The stock opened at $44.49 per share when the market opened on Friday. At that price, Trump's overwhelmingly majority stake is worth over $3.5 billion.

As Trump becomes a richer man, he faces a looming deadline to post a bond worth $454 million by Monday in order to stop the collection of his assets to pay Judge Arthur Engoron's judgement in the New York civil fraud case against him.

Trump, the presumed GOP presidential nominee in the 2024 election, hasn't admitted to any wrongdoing and claims that the case is politically motivated against him. The former president has appealed Engoron's ruling.

Kirschner, a former assistant U.S. attorney and frequent Trump critic, went on political commentator Brian Tyler Cohen's YouTube show The Legal Breakdown to discuss Trump's court case and his recent merger.

In a video posted to Cohen's YouTube channel Friday night, Kirschner said of the merger: "At the minimum it's curious, all of a sudden just literally 48 hours before Donald Trump's half a billion bill is coming due, his company merges, a company that includes Truth Social, and he reportedly may stand to benefit to the tune of 2 or 3 billion dollars. What curious timing is that?"

The legal analyst made it clear that the merger doesn't mean Trump will have access to 2 or 3 billion dollars of liquid assets right away. Most mergers prohibit major shareholders from selling shares within the first six months of a deal.

Kirschner continued: "But it doesn't mean that if this merger is a real thing and Donald Trump is now at least in theory worth another 2 or 3 billion dollars as a result of this merger...it seems to me maybe he could use that as collateral.

"If somebody was willing to say...'You're now worth another 2 or 3 billion. I will be willing to loan you on really advantageous terms to me, the lender, the half a million you need to stave off Tish [Letitia] James beginning to seize your properties.'"

However, he prefaced that he is not an expert on corporate acquisitions and mergers.

Kirschner told Newsweek via phone on Saturday that this merger is mainly a public relations move.

"My overwhelming sense is this is more public relations with respect to this merger and the value that might flow to Donald Trump as a result of this merger," he said. "It's more public relations than it is of legal consequence in connection with his ability to either post liquid assets or post a bond to kind of perfect his right to appeal without Tish James seizing his assets."

The legal analyst added that his "uninformed impression is nobody in their right mind" would be willing to loan Trump the nearly half a billion dollars he needs, "but again, maybe there are lenders out there."

Newsweek reached out to Trump's campaign and lawyer via email for comment.

Last month, Engoron ordered Trump to pay $355 million, plus interest, and barred him from doing business in New York for three years after finding him liable for financial fraud in September 2023 in a lawsuit brought on by New York Attorney General Letitia James.

Trump's two adult sons Donald Jr. and Eric, and two company executives from the Trump Organization, Allen Weisselberg and Jeff McConney, were also named in the lawsuit and face their own penalties.