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Scoop: Trump was pitched last month on launching a "conservative media powerhouse"

29 April 2021
Dan Ackermann

Donald Trump last month was pitched on launching a multi-billion dollar media and technology company built around his personal brand, with the idea that it could go public via a SPAC.

Behind the scenes: The 24-page presentation made its way to Trump's desk at Mar-a-Lago, although it does not seem to have gained traction with the former president.

  • One individual listed as being part of the proposed management team says he is no longer involved, while another says he was never affiliated with the effort.

The idea: Trump Media Group — headed by Trump as its CEO, chairman and president — is referred to in the pitch deck as "a conservative media powerhouse that will rival the liberal media and fight back against 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley."

  • It was to be comprised of three divisions: Trump+ (a subscription-based content business that gets compared to Netflix and Disney+), Trump Social Media (which would take a stake in existing companies or build its own), and Trump Technologies (which would provide alternatives to internet services like AWS and Stripe, and promise not to censor customers).
  • It forecast a base case valuation of $15 billion, with Trump+ alone at $9.2 billion.
  • It also suggested that TMG would go public, and presumably raise capital, via a SPAC. No mention of other funding sources, including if Trump would be asked to invest.

The bottom line: While this particular proposal seems dead in the water, it offers a glimpse into the sorts of business endeavors being presented to Trump, who's has expressed interest in building a new media company.

Transcripts show George Floyd told police "I can't breathe" over 20 times

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Newly released transcripts of bodycam footage from the Minneapolis Police Department show that George Floyd told officers he could not breathe more than 20 times in the moments leading up to his death.

Why it matters: Floyd's killing sparked a national wave of Black Lives Matter protests and an ongoing reckoning over systemic racism in the United States. The transcripts "offer one the most thorough and dramatic accounts" before Floyd's death, The New York Times writes.

The state of play: The transcripts were released as former officer Thomas Lane seeks to have the charges that he aided in Floyd's death thrown out in court, per the Times. He is one of four officers who have been charged.

  • The filings also include a 60-page transcript of an interview with Lane. He said he "felt maybe that something was going on" when asked if he believed that Floyd was having a medical emergency at the time.

What the transcripts say:

  • Floyd told the officers he was claustrophobic as they tried to get him into the squad car.
  • The transcripts also show Floyd saying, "Momma, I love you. Tell my kids I love them. I'm dead."
  • Former officer Derek Chauvin, who had his knee on Floyd's neck for over eight minutes, told Floyd, "Then stop talking, stop yelling, it takes a heck of a lot of oxygen to talk."

Read the transcripts via DocumentCloud.