Shares of Trump media closed up more than 18% on Monday, extending the owner of Truth Social’s dramatic recovery from recent share price lows and adding hundreds of millions of dollars to Donald Trump’s net worth on paper.
DJT’s recent rise came as several online election betting markets appeared to indicate the betting odds were shifting in favor of Trump, after weeks of tilting toward Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris.
Monday’s rise also coincided with Trump Media’s launch of a new website for its TV streaming app, Truth+.
Trump Media traded above $30 per share at its intraday high and closed at $29.95.
The stock has seen a flurry of trading in recent sessions, with shares trading at multiples of the company’s 30-day average volume. More than 57 million shares traded on Monday.
Last week, bets on the outcome of the presidential election hosted by the Kalshi contract market and the prediction trading platforms Polymarket and PredictI showed that the odds of a Trump victory were increasing.
These online gambling platforms, which are not based on methodologically sound data, have changed despite the latest polls nationally and in key states that continue to show a neck and neck race.
Analysts have long argued that many of Trump Media’s private investors are fans of the former president and are buying and selling the stock as a way to support him or bet on his chances of retaking the White House.
This dynamic could explain how the company behind Truth Social boasts a market cap of nearly $6 billion, and yet has a relatively small user base and brings in little revenue.
Trump owns nearly 57% of the company — worth about $3.4 billion at Monday’s closing stock price. He has vowed not to sell his stake, which currently makes up more than half of his net worth on paper, according to Forbes.
Meanwhile, Trump Media announced Monday morning the launch of a separate website for its internal platform streaming serviceTrue+.
While a slimmer version of Truth+ already exists on Truth Social, the new site offers the “full range” of the company’s streaming program, Trump Media said in a press release.
The site says it offers more than 1,000 “new movies and series,” including exclusive content. The company’s stated goal is to expand Truth+ to iOS devices and other TV-connected platforms while making the service “non-cancellable by Big Tech.”
But most of the movie and TV deals seem to have been released years ago. And almost all available movies are also on Tubi, another free video streaming platform.
Some of the content also appears to have been generated using artificial intelligence tools.
A 40-minute “documentary” about Al Capone, for example, involves little more than a slideshow of photos created with pure artificial intelligence, accompanied by an AI voice and a repeating piece of music. Supposedly directed by John Smith and written by Michael Smith.
This piece, “Al Capone: The Facts About Al Capone,” is currently featured in the Truth+ website’s “Selected content” carousel.