Former U.S. trade chief Lighthizer resigns from Trump Media board
Robert Lighthizer, former US trade representative, speaks during an event with former US President Donald Trump, not pictured, at Precision Components Group in York, Pennsylvania, US, on Monday, Aug. 19, 2024.
Graeme Sloan | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Former United States trade representative Robert Lighthizer resigned from Trump Media & Technology’s board of directors, effective Friday, according to a Securities and Exchange Commission filing.
During U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term, Lighthizer played a crucial role as trade chief in the imposition of hefty tariffs on Chinese imports and the renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement, or NAFTA, with Mexico and Canada.
His departure from the board and its committees was not due to any disagreements with the company’s management or the board, the filing said.
Founded by Trump and known for its Truth Social platform aimed at conservative audiences, Trump Media has struggled to scale its media business amid competition from larger social networks and uneven user growth.
The company has been considering spinning off Truth Social into a publicly traded company.
In a strategic pivot in December, the company agreed to merge with California-based TAE Technologies in an all-stock deal valued at over $6 billion, shifting its focus to fusion energy and forming a publicly traded company developing utility-scale power plants to meet rising electricity demand, including from artificial intelligence data centers.
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