{"id":102493,"date":"2025-12-20T10:38:15","date_gmt":"2025-12-20T10:38:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/102493\/"},"modified":"2025-12-20T10:38:15","modified_gmt":"2025-12-20T10:38:15","slug":"why-trumps-truth-social-is-pairing-up-with-this-nuclear-startup","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/102493\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Trump’s Truth Social is pairing up with this nuclear startup?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

President Trump\u2019s media company is merging with a nuclear fusion energy firm in a $6-billion deal aimed at generating more power amid growing demand from power-hungry <\/a>artificial intelligence data centers. <\/p>\n

The merger between Trump Media & Technology and TAE Technologies could lead to one of the world\u2019s first publicly traded fusion energy companies, the two companies said Thursday.<\/p>\n

What is TAE Technologies?<\/p>\n

TAE Technologies is a private company based in Foothill Ranch, Calif. It has been raising funds for commercial-scale nuclear fusion<\/a>, a method of energy production that supporters say could revolutionize access to electricity. Founded in 1998, the company has built and operated five fusion reactors and raised more than $1.3 billion. <\/p>\n

Fusion uses the same process that powers the sun to produce potentially limitless energy. Experts say it hasn\u2019t been achieved on a large scale because the process is volatile and expensive. TAE is trying to develop the technology needed to reduce the size, cost and complexity of fusion reactors. <\/p>\n

\u201cOur talented team, through its commitment and dedication to science, is poised to solve the immense global challenge of energy scarcity,\u201d TAE Chief Executive Michl Binderbauer said in a statement. \u201cRecent breakthroughs have prepared us to… commercialize our fusion technology.\u201d <\/p>\n

What is the political history of Truth Social?<\/p>\n

Truth Social was launched in 2022 as Trump created an alternative to mainstream social media, which was increasingly restricting and blocking his posts and profiles, as well as those of his allies and supporters. It began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a 2024 merger with a special purpose acquisition company. <\/p>\n

While most social media platforms have lifted restrictions on Trump\u2019s posts, he still primarily posts on his own platform. <\/p>\n

Though Trump and companies he is associated with control more than a 40% stake in the company, much of his investment is managed by others to avoid a conflict of interest during his term as president. Some analysts suggest his indirect association with a new company in a highly regulated industry could also lead to issues. <\/p>\n

TAE will need significant investment and regulation to advance, which makes Trump\u2019s ties a major conflict, Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, told the Associated Press.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s jumping into this industry just like he jumped into cryptocurrency a couple of years ago,\u201d Painter said. \u201cJust as the United States government is gonna get all involved in it. And it\u2019s so obvious that there\u2019s a huge conflict of interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Trump Media shares, which had fallen more than 80% from their 2024 peak, have skyrocketed around 50% since the deal was announced.<\/p>\n

The company now has a market value of more than $4.5 billion.<\/p>\n

Why are the companies merging?<\/p>\n

The parent company of Trump\u2019s social media site, Truth Social, Trump Media & Technology, previously had little to do with energy production. The company agreed to merge with Alphabet-backed TAE Technologies, with the aim of paving the way for easier access to abundant electricity. <\/p>\n

The merger aims to help both companies diversify and raise more money. <\/p>\n

It is an attempt to combine Trump Media\u2019s \u201csignificant access to capital\u201d with TAE\u2019s \u201cleading fusion technology,\u201d the companies said in a release. <\/p>\n

They plan to begin construction in 2026 on the first-ever utility-scale fusion power plant.<\/p>\n

\u201cFusion power plants are expected to provide economic, abundant and dependable electricity<\/a> that would help America win the AI revolution,\u201d the release said. <\/p>\n

The boom in popularity of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT has created a seemingly insatiable new demand for power. <\/p>\n

The Georgia Institute of Technology says modern AI data centers use as much electricity as a small city. As AI models grow, they demand even more power. <\/p>\n

What are the terms of the deal?<\/p>\n

The all-stock transaction announced this week values each share of TAE Technologies at $53.89, although it is a private company. Trump Media has agreed to provide $200 million in cash to TAE upon closing, expected in mid-2026. <\/p>\n

When the merger is complete, TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own about 50% of the combined company. <\/p>\n

Trump Media will be the holding company for TAE, TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"President Trump\u2019s media company is merging with a nuclear fusion energy firm in a $6-billion deal aimed at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":102494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[4329,1804,15511,5941,55655,48,52,51,47,50,49,55656,49397,55654,55657,5274,55658,55652,55653,1970,55651],"class_list":{"0":"post-102493","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-access","9":"tag-company","10":"tag-electricity","11":"tag-energy-production","12":"tag-fusion-reactor","13":"tag-la","14":"tag-la-headlines","15":"tag-la-news","16":"tag-los-angeles","17":"tag-los-angeles-headlines","18":"tag-los-angeles-news","19":"tag-medium-company","20":"tag-merger","21":"tag-more-power","22":"tag-private-company","23":"tag-release","24":"tag-same-process","25":"tag-tae","26":"tag-tae-technologies","27":"tag-technology","28":"tag-trump-media"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102493","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=102493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/102494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=102493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=102493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=102493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}