Dem
47
GOP
53
And now we get to something that is 100% grift. And although it's unbelievably egregious, it's basically flown under the radar. Last week, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) and TAE Technologies, Inc. (TAE) announced a merger. TMTG owns the low-energy social media platform, "Truth" Social. TAE is a leading company in the area of fusion power, and says it plans to have one fusion-reaction plant online soon, and a whole bunch more in upcoming years.
What does a poorly trafficked social media site have to do with nuclear energy? Absolutely nothing. To understand what happened, however, all you have to do is look at the balance sheet. The merger is valued at $6 billion, with more than $5 billion of that value coming from TAE. In the combined company, each side will own 50% of the stock. That means that TMTG shareholders (and the stock trades, or at least traded, under the symbol DJT) basically got $2 billion+ in free money for signing on the dotted line. Trump himself got north of $500 million.
What did TAE get for their money? You probably don't need us to tell you, but just in case, building fusion plants is something of a regulatory nightmare. It's also something that might attract some government investment. Now, for the bargain price of $2 billion, the company has made certain that the most powerful person in the federal government is deeply invested (literally and figuratively) in their success. One can expect regulatory barriers to fall faster than Trump's approval rating. And it would not be too surprising if, in 6 months, Burgum announces the "exciting news" that TAE has received a grant of $1 billion, or $2 billion, or maybe $10 billion. So, this is a great investment for them.
It is also, to put it another way, a big, fat bribe. Not only does the nation's leader now have a vested interest in promoting one power source, using any means at his disposal, he also has a vested interest in stymieing other power sources—like, say, wind. In a just world, he'd already be facing articles of impeachment. But this is not a just world, and this is not even his first large-scale grift. The various crypto schemes were just as bad, and they've produced no legal or political consequences for him at all. It's hard to imagine that this grift will turn out any differently. The only silver lining, such as it is, is that maybe the fusion plants actually work out, and Trump inadvertently helps create a new and advantageous form of energy. But if so, that will be an inadvertent side-effect, and certainly not one of the President's goals. (Z)