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Former US trade chief Lighthizer resigns from Trump Media board

By Thomson Reuters Mar 6, 2026 | 4:40 PM

March 6 (Reuters) – Former United States trade representative Robert Lighthizer resigned from Trump Media & Technology Group’s board of ​directors, effective Friday, an SEC ‌filing showed.

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, TMTG has struggled to scale its ‌media business amid competition from larger social networks and uneven user growth.

TMTG 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 AI data centers.

(Reporting by Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by ​Alan Barona)