Always Be Selling! That's our Trump, and he just may generate enough money with this deal to pay off his fines. W'll see! Via CBSnews.com

The funding partner for Trump Media & Technology Group said it has received regulatory approval from securities regulators that will allow it to proceed with a long-delayed merger. The combination could provide former President Donald Trump with a stake worth almost $4 billion.

Digital World Acquisition Corp. (DWAC), a so-called special-purpose acquisition company, said Thursday in a statement that the Securities and Exchange Commission had signed off on its proposed merger with Trump Media. DWAC said it plans to announce within two days a date for shareholders to vote on the deal.

The SEC said it doesn't comment on individual issuers. Shares of DWAC jumped $6.63, or 15.2%, to $50.18 in early afternoon trading.

Clearing this regulatory hurdle amounts to a major win for Trump and his media business, which runs the conservative-leaning Truth Social platform. The merger has been in the works since October 2021, but had stalled because of regulatory concerns and other roadblocks.

Trump's 79 million shares could be worth as much as $3.95 billion based on DWAC's stock price on Thursday.

I've been writing about this deal for a few years now. This is a SPAC, which are often shady. They're shell companies that use mergers to get another company's seat on the stock exchange. This is Trump -- nothing is as it seems.