By Alexander Saeedy

Donald Trump's company is gearing up to sell financial products to the public.

Trump Media and Technology Group announced on Wednesday that it plans to launch a finance company called "Truth.Fi." The company didn't specify if it plans to start selling investments or savings products to the public, but it opened the door to offering Trump-endorsed investments for everyday Americans.

The idea would be to capitalize on concerns from conservatives who feel they have been cut out by big banks and other financial firms. Trump himself last week called out the CEOs of Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase accusing them of not allowing people with right-wing beliefs to do business with the bank.

"Developing American First investment vehicles is another step...[so] American patriots can protect themselves from the ever-present threat of cancellation, censorship, debanking, and privacy violations committed by Big Tech and woke corporations," said Devin Nunes, CEO of Trump Media.

To kick-start the new finance venture, Trump Media will allocate around $250 million of the company's cash into cryptocurrency, exchange-traded funds and other investment vehicles. Charles Schwab will keep custody of those funds, Trump Media said in its statement.

Schwab declined to comment.

Trump Media says Truth.Fi's investments will primarily focus on "American growth, manufacturing, and energy companies as well as investments that strengthen the Patriot Economy." It said it would seek to launch new financial products this year, pending agreements and regulatory approvals.

A New Jersey-based firm, Yorkville Advisors , will serve as the investment adviser to Truth.Fi's various products, Trump Media said. Yorkville didn't return calls seeking further information.

Trump Media's stock jumped over 7% on the announcement.

Trump owns approximately 53% of Trump Media, according to a December securities filing. After the election, the president moved those shares into a trust that he fully owns and which is controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr. Trump's son has "sole voting and investment power" over his father's roughly 115 million shares in Trump Media, the filing states.

A sitting president controlling a financial company that seeks to invest and hold assets, and receive regulatory approval for that business, would be unprecedented.

Trump Media is behind the social-media company Truth Social and it recently launched a video-streaming platform, Truth+. It went public last year through a so-called SPAC merger, and the stock has been on a roller-coaster ride, trading as high as $95 and as low as $12 in the past 11 months.

Its move into financial services comes as big banks have been under fire for allegedly debanking conservatives.

Shareholders are pushing Bank of America and Citigroup to disclose how much they have discriminated against customers on the basis of their political or religious beliefs, and the state of Louisiana recently blackballed Bank of America from providing some financial services in the state for the alleged discrimination.

Right-wing alternatives to mainstream financial firms have been tried before, but Trump Media's move comes as the president's inauguration has kicked off more discussion about conservative values at companies.

Trump Jr. has joined 1789 Capital, a venture-capital firm that is aiming to invest in a "Republican/Parallel" economy.

Financial backers including Ken Griffin and Peter Thiel provided funding to try to build GloriFi, a bank aimed at people who see Wall Street as too liberal. Within months, the investors' money was nearly gone, and GloriFi was on the verge of bankruptcy. That startup shut down in 2022.

Vivek Ramaswamy's Strive also offers investment-management and wealth-planning services to the general public, marketing itself as an alternative to big Wall Street firms that use clients' money "to push their social and political agendas, often in the name of ESG [and] DEI."

--Hannah Erin Lang contributed to this article.

Write to Alexander Saeedy at alexander.saeedy@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 29, 2025 12:04 ET (17:04 GMT)

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