Rubbish Check
CNBC Top News · August 10, 2026
source“Trump Media posts $238 million second-quarter loss as crypto declines”
R2/ 10
Lightly altered
Rubbish Rating — 1 = base fact, 10 = pure rubbish
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In short
Rubbish Talk rates CNBC's claim that Trump Media posted a "$238 million second-quarter loss as crypto declines" a 2/10 because the company's own press release confirms crypto-linked losses drove the majority of the deficit, with only minor simplification (the loss also included equity-securities write-downs, not crypto alone).
The Verdict
Lightly altered. This is close to a base-fact headline: TMTG's own release attributes the loss primarily to non-cash declines including digital assets, and the $190 million-plus crypto/equity hit against a $238 million total loss makes "as crypto declines" a fair, not inflated, causal read. The only iteration away from the raw fact is folding "equity securities" losses into the shorthand "crypto," a minor compression rather than a distortion.
What actually happened
Trump Media & Technology Group reported a net loss of more than $238 million for the fiscal second quarter on revenue of less than $2 million, a loss that far exceeded the roughly $20 million lost in the same period a year earlier. The company said the loss was primarily driven by more than $190 million in declines tied to digital assets, pledged digital assets, and equity securities, while operating expenses jumped as well, largely due to crypto price volatility per the CFO.
Key facts
- Net loss: $238 million+, versus ~$20 million in Q2 of the prior year.
- Revenue: $1.7 million, mostly from Truth Social ad services, up 89% year over year.
- Non-cash losses from digital assets, pledged digital assets, and equity securities: $190 million+, the stated primary driver of the quarterly loss.
- Operating expenses: $165 million+, up roughly 275% year over year, attributed by CFO Phillip Juhan to "the price volatility of digital assets."
- Truth Social traffic fell sharply this summer, per a same-day New York Times report cited in the article.
- Stock closed down 8% the day of the earnings report.
What to watch for
Watch whether TMTG's pivot away from its Crypto.com agreements and toward the pending TAE fusion merger, which the interim CEO called "the single most important driver of long-term value," shows up as a new non-crypto loss driver next quarter. Also watch whether Truth Social's traffic decline (flagged by the NYT, not the company) becomes the bigger story once crypto volatility settles, since ad revenue growth off a tiny base won't offset shrinking reach for long.
About this scoreThe R-Score is Rubbish Talk's editorial opinion on how far a headline's framing sits from what the underlying facts support. It is a judgement about presentation and emphasis, not an allegation that any outlet has acted dishonestly. Every figure we rely on is linked under Receipts so you can check it yourself.
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