Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ: DJT) stock rocketed higher on Thursday, December 18, 2025, after the Truth Social parent announced a surprise pivot: a $6 billion all-stock merger with TAE Technologies, a private, Google-backed nuclear fusion company. [1]
As of 16:38 UTC on Dec. 18, DJT traded at $14.11, up 34.77% on the day, after swinging between an intraday low of $10.49 and a high of $14.54 on roughly 62.17 million shares—a classic “DJT day” in both direction and magnitude.
The immediate question for investors is straightforward: is this a genuine fundamental reset for Trump Media stock—or a headline-driven spike in one of the market’s most volatility-prone tickers?
DJT stock news today: what Trump Media announced on Dec. 18
Trump Media said it will combine with TAE Technologies in an all-stock transaction valued at more than $6 billion, a deal that would transform DJT from a social-media-focused company into a hybrid holding company spanning media, fintech, and advanced energy. [2]
Key elements of the announcement (and the fine print investors are reacting to):
- Ownership split: Trump Media and TAE shareholders are expected to own roughly 50% each of the combined entity on a fully diluted basis. [3]
- Leadership: Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes and TAE CEO Dr. Michl Binderbauer are slated to serve as co-CEOs. [4]
- Cash commitment: Trump Media has agreed to provide up to $200 million in cash at signing, plus another $100 million tied to the initial filing of the deal’s registration paperwork (Form S‑4). [5]
- Timing: The companies are targeting a mid‑2026 close, subject to approvals. [6]
- Stated ambition: The combined company says it expects to site and commence construction of a utility-scale fusion power plant in 2026, pending approvals. [7]
Reuters framed the move as an ambitious bet on the power boom driven by AI data centers, arriving as Big Tech and utilities scramble for long-duration, reliable electricity supplies. [8]
Why DJT stock jumped: fusion + AI + a new narrative
For most of 2025, DJT’s trading action has been dominated by a familiar cocktail: heavy retail participation, sharp sentiment shifts, and frequent “story stocks” dynamics. Today’s catalyst is bigger than most.
The merger announcement hands DJT a new storyline that sits at the intersection of three themes that markets have rewarded again and again:
- AI infrastructure buildout (and its massive electricity appetite)
- Next-generation power (nuclear, SMRs, and now “frontier” fusion)
- Event-driven volatility (merger timelines, filings, votes, and regulatory steps)
Business Insider noted that Wedbush analyst Dan Ives viewed the deal as a positive signal tied to the longer-term energy constraint on AI growth—expecting Big Tech to increasingly pursue partnerships or acquisitions for future energy sources. [9]
Reuters also highlighted Ives’ view that TAE could benefit from political tailwinds given President Donald Trump’s connection to the public company through share ownership and influence. [10]
The deal structure: what the combined company would include
According to Reuters and the companies’ materials, Trump Media would remain the holding company, housing Truth Social alongside TAE’s businesses (including TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences). [11]
The investor deck released for the joint call describes a broader portfolio under the “pro forma” company umbrella, including Truth Social, the streaming product Truth+, and the financial-services brand Truth.Fi—while positioning TAE’s fusion push as the marquee growth engine. [12]
The same deck also states:
- Pro forma ticker:DJT (and references trading on NASDAQ and NYSE Texas) [13]
- Governance: a nine-member board, majority independent, including Donald Trump Jr. and chaired by Michael B. Schwab [14]
Fusion power reality check: what’s plausible, what’s promotional
Fusion is not fission. It’s the process of forcing light atoms together at extreme temperatures to release energy—the reaction that powers the sun. The appeal is enormous: potentially abundant power with far less long-lived radioactive waste than conventional nuclear pathways. The hard part is everything else: sustaining the reaction, extracting net energy, and building materials and systems that can survive the operational environment at grid scale. [15]
That’s why fusion has a long history of aggressive timelines that slide to the right. The Washington Post reported that many scientists and energy executives are skeptical fusion will provide meaningful U.S. electricity before the mid‑2030s, even as companies market earlier target dates. [16]
TAE, for its part, is not a newly formed lab project. Reuters said the company was founded in 1998, has worked with Google Research for more than a decade, and counts major backers including Chevron. [17]
The investor presentation claims TAE has built five fusion reactors, employs roughly 400 people, includes 62 PhDs, and holds 1,600+ patents granted—strong signals of technical seriousness, though still not proof of commercial power delivery. [18]
DJT stock price action: volume, volatility, and options frenzy
Thursday’s move wasn’t just a gentle repricing—it was a stampede.
- Price: $14.11 (+34.77%) as of 16:38 UTC
- Intraday range: $10.49 to $14.54
- Volume: ~62.17 million shares
Options traders piled in as well. MarketBeat reported 118,731 call options traded—about 146% above typical call volume—alongside dramatically elevated share turnover compared with DJT’s average. [19]
This kind of options activity matters because it can amplify momentum in either direction via hedging flows—especially in stocks where a large retail crowd reacts quickly to headlines.
What analysts and commentators said today
Coverage and commentary on Dec. 18 broadly split into two camps:
The bullish narrative: a credible “AI power” angle
- Wedbush’s Dan Ives emphasized energy as a core constraint for AI ambitions and suggested the deal is a meaningful marker of where the tech sector is headed. [20]
The skeptical narrative: fusion is hard and timelines are aggressive
- Reuters underscored that fusion still hasn’t produced a commercially viable reactor despite decades of global effort, and the article flagged the hurdles to extracting net energy and building durable grid-scale systems. [21]
- The Washington Post highlighted broader skepticism about near-term timelines for fusion delivery at scale. [22]
This split is important: DJT’s long-term valuation after today depends less on the word “fusion” and more on whether the combined company can show steady, verifiable progress through regulatory, engineering, and financing milestones.
DJT stock forecasts today: what the deal implies vs. what models say
There are two very different “forecast” universes investors are juggling tonight:
1) Company roadmap (deal + plant timeline)
The investor deck lays out a target sequence for the first planned utility-scale plant:
- 2026: site selection and begin construction (pending approvals)
- 2029: “first plasma” target
- 2030: net energy capability target (as described)
- 2031: initial facility power operations target [23]
Even if you treat those dates as aspirational, they frame why the market is repricing optionality: fusion success would be transformative.
2) Algorithmic/technical forecasts (often backward-looking)
Forecast sites that rely on technical indicators and trend modeling were broadly cautious before—and even during—the rally.
CoinCodex, updated on Dec. 18, projected DJT could fall to around $6.26 by Jan. 17, 2026 (a model output, not Wall Street coverage). [24]
StockInvest (updated Dec. 17, projecting the Dec. 18 session) labeled DJT a “sell candidate” and modeled a wide downside range over the next three months—again, a technical-model perspective that can be overwhelmed by single-event news like today’s merger announcement. [25]
Investors should treat these algorithmic forecasts as volatility thermometers, not as fundamental verdicts—especially when a corporate action can rewrite the entire investment thesis.
The next catalysts that could move DJT stock again
If you’re tracking DJT as more than a one-day momentum event, the next price-moving milestones are likely to be procedural and document-driven:
- Form S‑4 filing and the first detailed deal disclosures (terms, risks, pro forma structure) [26]
- Shareholder approval process (for both sides) and any revisions to the deal timeline [27]
- Regulatory pathway clarity for a “utility-scale” fusion project (and what “pending approvals” means in practice) [28]
- Capital and liquidity updates—including the promised cash contributions and how the combined company expects to fund a multi-year, capital-intensive buildout [29]
- Technical milestones from TAE that can be independently validated (not just narrated in decks)
In short: today was the headline. The next chapters are paperwork, votes, approvals, and engineering proof points.
Bottom line for Trump Media (DJT) stock on Dec. 18, 2025
DJT stock surged today because the company delivered a shock-and-awe strategic pivot: a $6 billion fusion merger that plugs directly into the AI power narrative dominating markets. [30]
The opportunity is obvious: if TAE’s approach can credibly accelerate toward commercial power, the upside optionality is huge. The risks are just as obvious: fusion is brutally difficult, timelines are historically optimistic across the sector, and the path from a press release to a grid-connected plant runs through years of approvals, capital raises, and engineering execution. [31]
DJT has rarely traded like a conventional fundamentals-first stock. After today, it may trade even less like one—because “fusion optionality” is exactly the kind of story that can produce both spectacular squeezes and sudden air pockets.
References
1. www.reuters.com, 2. www.reuters.com, 3. www.reuters.com, 4. www.reuters.com, 5. www.reuters.com, 6. www.reuters.com, 7. www.globenewswire.com, 8. www.reuters.com, 9. www.businessinsider.com, 10. www.reuters.com, 11. www.reuters.com, 12. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 13. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 14. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 15. www.reuters.com, 16. www.washingtonpost.com, 17. www.reuters.com, 18. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 19. www.marketbeat.com, 20. www.businessinsider.com, 21. www.reuters.com, 22. www.washingtonpost.com, 23. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 24. coincodex.com, 25. stockinvest.us, 26. www.reuters.com, 27. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 28. filemanager-cdn.mziq.com, 29. www.reuters.com, 30. www.reuters.com, 31. www.reuters.com
