DWAC stock rises (again) as Trump’s Twitter clone prepares for launch

By Clint Rainey

February 16, 2022

After one year in the wilderness, former President Donald Trump is readying himself for a return to social media. It seems he’s posted his first message on Truth Social, the app that his new company Trump Media and Technology Group is creating after a merger with a SPAC called Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Seems is the key word here because the beta-mode app isn’t technically public yet, so people can’t see it for themselves. The post was revealed via a slightly pixelated screenshot that Donald Trump Jr. shared with the world by posting it, perhaps “un-self-awarely,” on both Twitter and Instagram:

“Get ready! Your favorite President will see you soon,” Trump’s message reads.

The new app purportedly launches on Monday—Presidents Day—if its Apple App Store listing is to be believed. (Devin Nunes, who left Congress to become CEO of Trump Media and Technology Group, previously stated the site would launch in late March.)

Whatever the case, the App Store listing is the latest peek at the app’s design and attitude, and the theme is pretty clear: The user interface is very Twitter-esque, while the atmosphere is mercilessly anti-Twitter. In screenshots teasing what the app looks like, Truth Social’s App Store listing mocks Jack Dorsey in almost every single image. They show the app being used by someone named “Jack’s Beard.” (Handle: @Jack. Bio: “I’m just a guy trying to make it in this big world!”)

Another image gives us a look at @Jack’s feed, where we see a post by @TRUTHSocial that reads: “This week has been amazing. We’re working so hard to make sure that everyone has a voice . . . Cancel the cancel culture!” (Curiously, @TRUTHSocial’s post has been heavily ratioed by the platform’s users in this scenario it concocted—the post has 12,392 replies, but just 8,921 likes and 4,722 “re-Truths,” the term the app has landed on for retweets.)

There’s also a pretend DM exchange between @Jack and @Jane, an apparent employee of his whom he instructs to delete a user’s account. “Hey @Jane, can you please have our moderation team take down that account and its posts?” he asks. “@Jack are you sure you want to do that?” the employee responds. “I mean it’s a pretty big deal censoring that content. Kinda an overreach . . . right?” To this, Jack’s Beard then replies, “JUST TAKE IT DOWN! ????”

Meanwhile, an image of Trump’s actual Truth Social page was shared by Liz Willis, of Right Side Broadcasting Network, the media company best-known for livestreaming all of Trump’s rallies on YouTube. Willis posted an image that, if you aren’t careful, looks like Trump’s old Twitter account reincarnated. It has the same profile picture, handle, and bio description. One standout difference: His profile looks to have been verified using a red check mark, instead of a blue one.

News of Trump’s inaugural post caused Digital World Acquisition Corp. stock to climb by 5% in premarket trading, implying a gain on its previous market valuation of at least a couple billion dollars. The company trades under the ticker DWAC. Financial news outlets like the Wall Street Journal have called this “a remarkable figure,” considering nobody knows jack (so to speak) about this company, even after its SEC filing—except that it plans to launch a new site that features Trump very prominently.

 
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