Trump Axed Truth Social Exec For Nixing Plea To Give Shares To Melania

A co-founder of Truth Social’s media parent company was forced off the board of the firm after he ignored demands by Donald Trump to give some of his stock to Melania Trump, a whistleblower has told The Washington Post, Mary Papenfuss reported for HuffPost.

Photo Insert: Wilkerson submitted a whistleblower complaint to the SEC in August regarding the company.

Trump pushed for the giveaway to his wife even though he had already been given 90% of the stock in the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in exchange for the use of his name and some other “minor involvement,” executive Will Wilkerson told The Washington Post.

Digital World Acquisition Corp. — the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that Truth Social needs to go public — said last month that investors had already backed out of $139 million in commitments of the $1 billion announced by the company.

A web-hosting operator complained in August that Truth Social owed $1.6 million in contractually obligated payments, which suggested the operation’s finances are in “significant disarray,” Fox Business News reported.

Truth Social’s application for a trademark was turned down in August because its name was too similar to other operations.

The company co-founder reportedly dodged the request, telling Trump that it would leave him with a tax bill he couldn’t pay.

“Do whatever you need to do,” Trump snapped back, according to Wilkerson. He was forced off the board five months later in what Wilkerson believes was payback for failing to turn over a “small fortune” to Melania Trump, the newspaper reported.

The incident was one of a series of bombshell revelations supported by several documents viewed by the newspaper about bitter infighting in the Trump business, technical screwups, questionable financial representations, and what Wilkerson insisted were violations of SEC regulations.

Wilkerson submitted a whistleblower complaint to the SEC in August regarding the company.

Wilkerson’s attorneys told the newspaper that he is also cooperating with current investigations into Trump Media by the SEC and by federal prosecutors from the Southern District of New York.

Wilkerson was fired from his job Thursday, Oct. 13, as TMTG senior vice president of operations after he spoke to the Post.

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