In what may be the strangest deal of the year, Trump Media & Technology Group $DJT ( ▲ 6.33% ) announced a $6 billion all stock merger with fusion energy startup TAE Technologies. The move instantly transforms the Truth Social owner into what it says will be the world’s first publicly traded fusion energy company and sent DJT shares soaring nearly 35% on the news.
Once the deal closes, Trump Media shareholders will own about half of the combined company. TAE, once a private venture capital favorite chasing the holy grail of clean energy, gets access to public market capital through a meme stock style vehicle rather than a traditional IPO. Management framed the deal as a leap from social media into a technology that could define America’s energy future.
Why fusion is so alluring and so risky
Fusion promises near limitless clean energy by forcing atomic nuclei to combine, the same reaction that powers the sun. Unlike nuclear fission, it does not produce large volumes of long lived radioactive waste, and its fuel sources are more abundant. For decades, fusion has been described as perpetually ten years away, a reputation earned through repeated technical setbacks and missed timelines.
TAE’s approach is especially ambitious. While most leading fusion startups rely on hydrogen based fuels heated to around 100 million degrees Celsius, TAE’s design uses a deuterium and boron mix that must reach nearly one billion degrees. Analysts say that makes it far harder to execute, even if the long term payoff could be enormous.
One nuclear analyst summed it up bluntly, saying TAE is swinging for a grand slam while others are trying to get on base. The upside is massive, but so are the odds of failure.
Why Wall Street is skeptical
Even after major breakthroughs in recent years, many experts believe commercial fusion power remains decades away. Supply chains for critical components like superconducting cables and high powered lasers barely exist, and building them at scale will take time and capital. Some physicists argue that claims of grid ready fusion in the early 2030s are still more marketing than reality.
Still, investor appetite for nuclear adjacent plays has been intense. Pre revenue fission startups have reached multibillion dollar valuations, and governments worldwide are pouring money into fusion research. China now outspends the rest of the world combined, while the US has created a dedicated fusion office at the Department of Energy.
For Trump Media, the deal offers a dramatic narrative pivot and a new growth story at a time when enthusiasm for its core business has been volatile. For investors, it is a high risk bet that pairs a speculative energy moonshot with one of the market’s most polarizing stocks. As one analyst put it, if it works it could be extraordinary, but good luck on this one.