Donald Trump’s loss-making social media business has announced plans to merge with a fusion power company.
Trump Media & Technology Group, owner of the US president’s small truth-telling social platform, unveiled an extraordinary merger worth more than $6 billion with TAE Technologies, combining its social media operation with a huge bet on an AI boom fueled by increased energy demand.
TMTG intends to begin construction of “the world’s first utility-scale fusion power plant” next year, it said, in an effort to use the experimental technology behind AI developments to power giant datacenters.
TMTG shares rose 27% in early trading in New York on Thursday.
Following completion of the deal, TMTG and TAE Technologies shareholders will each own approximately 50% of the combined entity. The companies expect this to happen in mid-2026.
TAE, backed by Alphabet’s Google and oil giant Chevron, aims to more cost-effectively develop and sell next-generation neutral beam systems for fusion and related applications.
Nuclear fusion refers to an emerging technology that aims to generate electricity by using the process that energizes the Sun. It offers the prospect of abundant energy without pollution, radioactive waste or greenhouse gases.
Meanwhile, TMTG has struggled to capitalize on its ownership of Trump’s Truth social platform, which the president regularly updates with opinions, announcements and attacks.
The firm reported sales of $927,900 for the three months to September 30, just shy of $1.01m the previous year. Its losses also widened to $54.8m from $19.2m in the same quarter of 2024.
TMTG President and CEO Devin Nunes made the case for the planned combination of social media and fusion power.
“The Trump Media and Technology Group has built the indispensable infrastructure to secure free expression online for Americans, and now we are taking a big step toward a revolutionary technology that will cement America’s global energy dominance for generations,” Nunes said in a statement. “Fusion power would be the most dramatic energy breakthrough since the beginning of commercial nuclear power in the 1950s – an innovation that would lower energy prices, boost supply, ensure America’s AI-dominance, revitalize our manufacturing base, and strengthen the national defense.”
TMTG “brings capital and public markets access to rapidly move TAE’s proven technology into commercial feasibility,” he said.
The tech industry’s insatiable demand for the electricity needed to run datacenters and artificial intelligence technologies has renewed interest in nuclear power supply, including restarting completely shut down reactors, expanding capacity, and contracting for power from future small modular reactors.
The increasing demand is also fueling the development of nuclear power plants, which is widely considered a clean source of energy.
The companies said Nunes will serve as co-CEO of the new company alongside TAE CEO and director Mitchell Binderbauer, and the deal has been approved by the board.
Wedbush technology analyst Dan Ives said that despite technically being a 50:50 merger between the two companies, the Trump media would probably be “all about TAE now”. “In our view TAE will clearly receive major political support from President Trump and will significantly create a major nuclear fusion US energy domestic bet for years to come,” Ives said.
Reuters contributed reporting
