Donald Trump’s legal troubles could inadvertently force his supporters to own stock in The New York Times, according to a report.
The former president is currently facing a civil fraud trial in New York, where a judge has already ruled that he committed fraud by inflating the value of his assets. As a result, the judge ordered that Trump and his sons, Donald Jr. and Eric, be barred from serving as officers or directors of any New York corporations for the next 10 years.
The judge also ordered that Trump’s business empire be placed under the control of a court-appointed receiver, who will be responsible for overseeing the company’s assets and operations. This receiver could potentially be forced to liquidate some of Trump’s assets, including his stake in Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of the social media platform Truth Social.
If the receiver is forced to sell Trump’s stake in TMTG, the shares could end up being purchased by The New York Times, which is a major shareholder in TMTG. This is because The New York Times owns a significant number of shares in TMTG through its investment in Digital World Acquisition Corp (DWAC), a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that merged with TMTG.
As a result, Trump’s supporters who own shares in TMTG could find themselves indirectly owning stock in The New York Times, a publication that Trump has repeatedly attacked and accused of being “fake news.”
“This is going to bring a lot of problems that almost anyone could have predicted,” said a source familiar with the matter.