Good morning. It's Saturday, March the 23rd. I'm Ali Valshi. In a couple of days, Donald Trump

faces a critical and expensive deadline. On Monday, the New York Attorney General, Letitia James,

will be in a position to start collecting on the roughly half a billion

dollar penalty that the former president owes New York State following last month's judgment

against him in his civil fraud case. That could mean seizure of some of Trump's most prized

properties if the former president is not able to put up either money or a financial guarantee while he continues

to appeal the case. It looks like that's where things were headed after his lawyers submitted a

court filing this week, saying their client could not find an insurance company to underwrite a bond

for the massive penalty. But early yesterday morning, the former president appeared to undercut

his lawyer's claim in a post on his social media company, Truth Social, that, quote,

through hard work, talent, and luck, I currently have almost $500 million in cash, end quote.

Then, just hours after that post, shareholders of a company

called Digital World Acquisition Corporation voted to merge with the Trump Media and Technology Group,

which owns the social media platform, Truth Social. The newly merged company will likely go

public next week, a move that could result in a

massive financial windfall of over $3 billion for the former president. Now, Trump won't be able to

take out any of that money in time to pay the penalty he owes New York, but it offers him a lifeline at a vulnerable time, and I'll explain how in a minute.

That merger between Trump's Socials parent company and digital world acquisitions was two

and a half years in the making. But there's a story to be told that provides important context to

Trump's current situation, and it involves TikTok,

a conservative pack, and a really rich man named Jeffrey Yass.

Yass is the Pennsylvania billionaire owner of the financial firm Susquehanna International Group.

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