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DJT Stock Falls as Trump Media Launches Five ‘America-First’ ETFs. What Is It Trying to Do?

Dec 30, 2025 10:14:00 -0500 by Mackenzie Tatananni | #Media

President Donald Trump is the majority owner of Trump Media & Technology Group through the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

Key Points

Five “America First”-branded funds debuted Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange, courtesy of Trump Media & Technology Group , the company majority-owned by President Donald Trump.

Taken together with the company’s recent business moves—from its merger with a fusion energy company to the creation of a Bitcoin stockpile—the strategy raises a basic question: What exactly is Trump Media doing?

The exchange-traded funds, part of Trump Media’s Truth.Fi fintech brand, were launched in conjunction with Yorkville America Equities, which was described in a press release as a sponsor and investment advisor for the ETFs.

The basket of funds includes ETFs focused on hot sectors such as defense and energy, along with one dubbed the “Truth Social American Red State REITs ETF,” presumably concentrated on real estate investment trusts in states that generally vote for the Republican Party.

While Trump Media is best known as the parent of Truth Social, the platform created in response to the president’s bans from mainstream social media apps, it steadily has broadened its focus since going public in 2024.

The launch of the ETFs comes just days after Trump Media agreed to a $6 billion merger with TAE Technologies, a nuclear fusion company headquartered in California.

Earlier this year, Trump Media appeared to pivot to a crypto treasury company, akin to Strategy , when it said it planned to sell company stock and convertible bonds to fund the purchase of $2.5 billion worth of Bitcoin.

It’s unclear what compelled the company to expand its focus so broadly. On its website, Trump Media says its overarching mission is to “end Big Tech’s assault on free speech”—a far cry from nuclear energy or even its latest push into exchange-traded funds.

It’s possible the company is waiting to see which lines of business actually bear fruit. Trump Media posted a net loss of nearly $55 million on $973,000 in revenue in the third quarter.

The company noted that its results would “continue to be affected by elevated legal expenses,” amounting to some $20 million in the third quarter. The value of its Bitcoin holdings also slid in that period.

Trump Media has only shed light on its business strategy in passing. The company said in May that a Bitcoin treasury represented a step toward its plan “to evolve into a holding company by acquiring additional profit-generating, crown jewel assets consistent with America First principles.”

Barron’s reached out to Trump Media for additional comment.

Trump Media stock, which trades under the ticker DJT—Trump’s initials—fell 3% following Tuesday’s announcement. The benchmark S&P 500 and tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite traded flat to slightly higher.

It appears there’s more to come on the ETF front. Yorkville America Equities and Trump Media said they plan to launch more ETFs in the coming year. This includes equity-based funds and digital asset-based funds through Foris Capital, the broker-dealer for online exchange Crypto.com.

The link to Crypto.com should come as no surprise. Back in March, Trump Media signed a non-binding agreement with the Singapore-based company to launch a series of ETFs through Truth.Fi.

The crypto exchange, which was investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under President Joe Biden, has partnered extensively with Trump Media. In September, the Truth Social parent agreed to acquire 684.4 million Cronos tokens at roughly 15.3 cents apiece in a stock-and-cash transaction with Crypto.com.

Write to Mackenzie Tatananni at mackenzie.tatananni@barrons.com