Trump media company announces a massive loss and new turnaround effort

NEW YORK — The president’s media company reported a huge loss for the second quarter and said it wants to abandon new business lines and become a forum for people to voice their opinions.

Trump Media & Technology, the firm behind the Truth Social platform, claimed Monday that it lost $238 million in the three months ending June as it expanded into areas outside of media, such as crypto. That was more than 10 times the loss from a year ago. The loss of $1.3 billion was 86 cents a share, versus 8 cents.

In a conference call following the earnings report, the new chief executive, Kevin McGurn, said a yearlong drive to expand by branching into various new areas, including online betting and crypto, will now be largely abandoned as he refocuses the business on its social media objective.

“Making the disciplined decision to pivot allows us to focus more time and resources on our most important initiatives,” McGurn added. “We will say no to things or change course as needed.

Good government watchdogs have opposed Trump Media from the outset of Trump’s second term as a vehicle for him to profit off the presidency. Those worries have only escalated with the new program, with Democrats pledging to examine the paid service if they win control of Congress in the midterms.

McGurn rejected such concerns, saying other companies sell exclusive, fast access to traders.

“Commercial APIs providing licensed real-time public data is a well-established business practice across the technology, financial information and media industries,” he added. “This is no different.

One new initiative previously announced, nuclear fusion, will go on. Trump Media is working to conclude the previously announced merger with energy company TAE Technologies before the end of the year, McGurn added.

McGurn said the fusion business “remains the single most important driver of long-term value for this company.”

Trump Media reported second-quarter sales of $1.7 million, more than doubling the revenue it reported a year earlier.

The corporation has $1 billion debt from special convertible notes that don’t come due until 2028, but the lenders had an option to demand they be paid out in November, a possible knock to finances tho the company appeared to have adequate cash.

Trump Media ended the quarter with more than $400 million in cash and short-term investments. It also $1.2 billion worth of bitcoin and bitcoin-related holdings.