Trump’s social media company to start trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday
Court agrees to pause collection of Trump’s massive civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175M
A New York appeals court on Monday agreed to hold off collection of former President Donald Trump’s more than $454 million civil fraud judgment if he puts up $175 million within 10 days.
If Trump does, it will stop the clock on collection and prevent the state from seizing the presumptive Republican presidential nominee’s assets while he appeals.
The appeals court also halted other aspects of a trial judge’s ruling that had barred Trump and his sons Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr., the family company’s executive vice presidents, from serving in corporate leadership for several years.
In all, the order was a significant victory for the Republican ex-president as he defends the real estate empire that vaulted him into public life. The development came just before New York Attorney General Letitia James, a Democrat, was expected to initiate efforts to collect the judgment.
Trump’s New York hush money case is set for trial April 15
Former President Donald Trump will stand trial April 15 on charges related to hush money payments meant to cover up claims of marital infidelity, a New York judge ruled Monday, tersely swatting aside defense claims of prosecutorial misconduct.
Assuming the date holds, the decision from Judge Juan M. Merchan ensures that the prosecution will be the first of four criminal cases against Trump to reach trial, with the presumptive Republican nominee facing a jury in the city where he built a business empire decades ago and gained celebrity status.
The trial had been in limbo after a last-minute document dump caused a postponement of the original date. In setting jury selection for April 15, Merchan bristled at what he suggested were baseless claims by Trump’s lawyers that prosecutors intentionally failed to pursue tens of thousands of pages of records from a federal probe covering the same issues.
Trump Media & Technology Group, whose flagship product is social networking site Truth Social, will begin trading on the Nasdaq stock market Tuesday.
Shareholders of Digital World Acquisition Corp., a publicly traded shell company, approved a deal to merge with the Trump’s media business in a Friday vote.
Shares of Digital World have been volatile. On Friday the stock slumped
13.7% after the merger was approved. In afternoon trading Monday soared 22% to $45.40.
Former president Donald Trump is set to own most of the combined company — or nearly 79 million shares. Multiply that by Digital World’s closing stock price Friday of $36.94, and the total value of his stake could be nearly $3 billion.
Trump won’t be able to cash out his stake in the Palm Beach, Florida-based company immediately, unless the company’s board makes changes to a “lock-up” provision that prevents company insiders from selling newly issued shares for six months.