Donald Trump’s social media app Truth Social is back in Google (GOOGL)’s Play Store after a nearly two-month ban. The news sent shares of Digital World Acquisition Corporation (DWAC), the blank-check firm set up to take Truth Social public, to jump more than 20 percent to above $19 during morning trading hours today (Oct. 13).
Digital World is a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) created in October 2021 to take Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), Truth Social’s parent company, public through a reverse merger. The deal hit multiple setbacks in the past year, including a federal criminal investigation into alleged securities violations.
The merger agreement gave Digital World a year to complete the deal with Trump Media. Digital World recently sought shareholder votes to extend the deadline by another year but failed to garner enough support ahead of an official shareholder meeting, originally scheduled for Oct. 10. The firm has postponed the meeting to Nov. 3.
On Aug. 30, Google’s Play Store banned the Truth Social app, citing insufficient content moderation policies. The app has since adopted those policies. Apple’s App Store continued to allow it.
If the SPAC deal falls through, Digital World could be asked to return millions of dollars it raised to investors.
