Digital World Acquisition spikes 23% as Elon Musk tweets about Twitter's competition

• Digital World Acquisition surged 23% on Wednesday as Elon Musk tweeted about Twitter's competition.
• Digital World Acquisition is a SPAC that has agreed to merge with Donald Trump's Truth Social.
• "Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech," Musk said.

Digital World Acquisition soared as much as 23% on Wednesday as Elon Musk tweeted about Twitter's competition, Truth Social.

"Truth Social is currently beating Twitter & TikTok on the Apple Store," Musk tweeted, accompanied with a screenshot of the top free app downloads in Apple's app store.

Digital World Acquisition is a SPAC that has agreed to merge with Truth Social, a social media competitor to Twitter that is chaired by former President Donald Trump. Given that Musk has agreed to buy Twitter for $44 billion, it's no surprise that Musk begins to focus in on his future competition, assuming the deal gets done.

In follow-up tweets, Musk said, "Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech. Should be called Trumpet instead!"

Musk has long been a critic of Twitter's handling of censorship issues, and has indicated that his purchase of Twitter is more tied to his views on free speech than to making money off of the business.

After Musk came to an agreement with Twitter's board to purchase the company, shares of Digital World Acquisition have slumped, as an alternative free-speech social media platform likely seemed less alluring to users and investors. Conservative media personalities like Tucker Carlson and Mark Levin returned to Twitter following Musk's agreement to buy the company.

But one holdout on a potential return to Twitter is President Donald Trump, who said earlier this week that even if Twitter allowed him back on the platform, he wouldn't join.

"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," Trump told Fox News."I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH. The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter," Trump said.

Trump's supposed exclusivity to the platform could perhaps lure more users to it, boosting its ability to grow and compete with other media platforms.