Aug. 23 (UPI) -- Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special acquisition company that has agreed to take the parent company of Donald Trump's social media platform public, warned Monday that a decline in the former president's popularity could damage the value of the deal.
In a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, DWAC said the success of Truth Social "depends in part" on the "reputation and popularity" of Trump, who is the chairman of Trump Media and Technology group, which owns and operates the social media platform.
"If President Trump becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility or the desire of people to use a platform associated with him, and from which he will derive financial benefit, TMTG's results of operations, as well as the outcome of the proposed business combination, could be adversely affected," DWAC said.
It cited polls from The Hill and The New York Post, which stated that just 30% of people surveyed and 60% of Republicans that took part in the poll would use a platform associated with Trump, noting that TMTG will need "millions of those people to register and regularly use" Truth Social in order for the platform to be successful.
The filing set a Sept. 6 shareholder meeting to determine whether to delay the deadline for DWAC to complete a merger with Trump's company from Sept. 8 until the same date next year.
DWAC would also be able to liquidate if the merger is not completed.
The filing comes as Trump faces a number of investigations including a probe into the removal of records from the White House that saw federal agents search his Mar-a-Lago residence in Palm Beach, Fla.
A House select committee and the Justice Department both have active probes investigating the Jan. 6, 2021 riots at the U.S. Capitol, including Trump's role.
Additionally, Trump's personal attorney, Rudy Giuliani, recently testified before a Georgia grand jury investigating efforts to overturn the results of the state's 2020 presidential election which Trump lost to President Joe Biden.