Top executives have left Trump Media amid allegations of CEO mismanagement and retaliation

Former President Donald Trump's media company has fired executives in recent days after internal allegations that its CEO, former Republican Devin Nunes, was mismanaging the company, according to records of interviews and communications among former employees.

Several people involved in the Trump media believe the ouster is retaliatory after what they described as an anonymous “whistleblower” complaint about Nunes to the company's board of directors.

The chief operating officer and chief product officer have left the company, along with at least two lower-level employees, according to interviews, social media posts and communications among former employees reviewed by ProPublica. The company that runs social media platform Truth Social disclosed the chief operating officer's departure in a securities filing Thursday afternoon.

ProPublica has not seen the whistleblower allegations. But multiple people with knowledge of the company said the concerns revolve around Nunes' alleged mismanagement. Among them were allegations of misappropriation of funds, hiring of foreign contractors and interference in product development, a person said.

In a statement, a Trump media spokeswoman did not answer specific questions but said ProPublica's investigation into the company “fakes the implication of grossly inappropriate and even illegal behavior that has no basis in fact.”

“This story is the fifth in a row of ProPublica's increasingly frivolous campaign, possibly at the behest of political interest groups, to damage TMTG based on false and defamatory allegations and vague insinuations,” the statement said, adding, “TMTG strictly complies with all applicable laws and regulations.” “

Trump Media's board includes a set of powerful figures in the Trump world, including his son Donald Trump Jr., former US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, and businesswoman Linda McMahon, a major donor and current vice-chair of Trump's transition planning committee.

Nunes was named the company's CEO in 2021, with Trump praising him as “a fighter and a leader” who would “make a wonderful CEO.” As a member of Congress, Nunes was known as one of Trump's staunchest loyalists.

After Trump made internal allegations about Nunes to the media, the company enlisted a lawyer to investigate and interview employees, according to a person with knowledge of the company.

Then, last week, some employees interviewed by the lawyer were notified that they were being pushed, the person said. The employees being pushed include a human relations director and a product designer, chief operating officer Andrew Northwall and chief product officer Sandro De Moraes. Trump asked media workers to sign an agreement promising not to make public claims of wrongdoing against the company in exchange for severance, said a person with knowledge of the company.

On Thursday afternoon, Northwall posted on Truth Social and announced that he had “decided to resign from my role at Trump Media,” adding that he was “incredibly grateful” to Trump and Nunes for “this opportunity.”

“As I step back, I look forward to focusing more on my family and returning to my entrepreneurial journey,” the statement said.

De Moraes now identifies himself as the company's “former chief product officer” in his Truth Social bio.

Some word of the exodus came to light earlier this week when former Trump media employee Alex Gleason said in a social media post that “in real social unrest. More people shot.”

Trump personally owns about 60 percent of the company. That stake, even after the recent decline in the company's stock price, is worth about $2 billion on paper, a significant chunk of Trump's fortune. He said last month that he did not plan to sell his shares. It's unclear what role, if any, Trump plays in the day-to-day operations of the company.

Since its launch in 2021, the company has become a speculation-fueled meme stock, but its actual business has generated virtually no revenue and Truth Social has not emerged as a serious competitor to the major social media platforms.

Among Nunes' moves as CEO, as ProPublica reported, was the signing of a major streaming TV deal with several obscure companies, including one controlled by a major political donor. He traveled to the Balkans in the summer and met with the prime minister of North Macedonia, a trip whose purpose was never publicly explained by the company.

Trump Media has a formal whistleblower policy, adopted when the company went public in March, that encourages employees to report illegal activity and other “business conduct that harms the company's good name” and business interests.