Small-time investors in Trump’s Truth Social reckon with stock collapse

Some Trump supporters who invested in his social media company have seen their share values plunge -— and see it as a test of faith

By Drew Harwell
April 14, 2024 at 8:00 a.m. EDT



Jerry Dean McLain cuts down a tree in Oklahoma City on April 11. (Nick Oxford for The Washington Post)

Jerry Dean McLain first bet on former president Donald Trump’s Truth Social two years ago, buying into the Trump company’s planned merger partner, Digital World Acquisition, at $90 a share. Over time, as the price changed, he kept buying, amassing hundreds of shares for $25,000 — pretty much his “whole nest egg,” he said.

That nest egg has lost about half its value in the past two weeks as Trump Media & Technology Group’s share price dropped from $66 after its public debut last month to $32 on Friday. But McLain, 71, who owns a tree-removal service outside Oklahoma City, said he’s not worried. If anything, he wants to buy more. ... “I know good and well it’s in Trump’s hands, and he’s got plans,” he said. “I have no doubt it’s going to explode sometime.”

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Razzan Nakhlawi contributed to this report.

By Drew Harwell
Drew Harwell is a reporter for The Washington Post covering artificial intelligence and the algorithms changing our lives. He was a member of an international reporting team that won a George Polk Award in 2021.