Trump Media Execs Dumped Millions in Stock After the Election

The CFO of Trump Media and 2 different executives sold a combined $16 cardinal successful banal aft the statesmanlike election, according to SEC filings and a study from CNBC. The quality comes arsenic societal media users contemplate whether determination volition beryllium immoderate uncomfortable contention betwixt Truth Social and X present that Donald Trump has tapped X proprietor Elon Musk to tally immoderate benignant of committee to slash the national fund by a third.

Trump Media’s main fiscal serviceman Phillip Juhan sold the astir stock—320,000 shares astatine $30.65 per stock ($9.8 million) connected Nov. 8, and 64,000 shares astatine 32.97 per stock ($2.11 million) connected Nov. 11, according to a filing with the SEC. As CNBC notes, Juhan adopted a program backmost successful August to merchantability 400,000 shares of banal successful the institution by December 2025.

Trump Media manager Eric Swider sold 136,183 shares astatine $28.23 per stock ($3.84 million, according to a filing with the SEC. And wide counsel Scott Glabe sold 15,917 shares astatine $32.19 per stock ($512,368), according to SEC filings. For his part, Trump pledged successful a Nov. 8 station connected Truth Social that helium wouldn’t merchantability his shares.

Trump is the bulk owner of Trump Media, with a 57% involvement worthy roughly $3.3 billion. He has already said helium won’t divest himself of his important concern holdings earlier taking bureau again. The incoming president has downplayed the magnitude of wealth that really exchanges hands portion insisting he’s moving for the money—precisely the benignant of bizarre rationalization that allows Trump to often flout morals rules.

“If I person a edifice and idiosyncratic comes successful from China, that’s a tiny magnitude of money,” Trump said connected Fox News during a municipality hallway lawsuit successful January, according to CNBC. “I was doing services for that. People were staying successful these monolithic hotels, these beauteous hotels, and they stayed determination and they paid. I don’t get $8 cardinal for doing nothing.”

The president made a large amusement of saying he’d transferred power of his companies to his children erstwhile helium took bureau successful 2017, but reporting successful respective outlets similar Forbes revealed it was mostly symbolic. The New York Times reported successful January that Trump had made astatine slightest $7.8 cardinal from 20 overseas governments portion successful office.

Trump has tapped Musk to caput what they telephone the Department of Government Efficiency, shortened to DOGE, which besides conscionable truthful happens to beryllium the sanction of a cryptocurrency successful which the Tesla CEO is heavy invested. Vivek Ramaswamy volition tally the effort with Musk but determination are truthful galore questions astir however DOGE volition relation since presidents can’t unilaterally make a caller national agency.

The Washington Post reported Wednesday that Trump’s lawyers whitethorn effort to situation a 1974 instrumentality that blocks presidents from choosing which agencies to fund. But everything is evidently precise overmuch up successful the aerial astatine this constituent arsenic Trump, a fascist who’s pledged to spell aft his governmental enemies, gets acceptable to instrumentality powerfulness again.

Musk helped get Trump elected, but determination are besides questions astir however Truth Social and X whitethorn co-exist successful the societal media environment. X has taken a hard-right crook since Musk bought the tract erstwhile it was known arsenic Twitter successful Oct. 2022 and Truth Social was launched arsenic a far-right alternate to Twitter. Now that they’re some simply engines of right-wing radicalization perfectly aligned with the goals of the national government, it’s hard to spot this ending without immoderate benignant of struggle betwixt Musk and Trump unless they articulation forces successful that respect arsenic well.

Truth Social has conscionable 200,000 regular progressive users, according to information from Similarweb and CNBC, which is tiny compared with X’s 36.7 cardinal users. Trump Media didn’t instantly respond to a petition for comment. Gizmodo volition update this station if we perceive back.