Donald Trump’s new social media enterprise announced that the blank-cheque company it set up to monetise the former president’s digital and political mojo has raised $US1 billion ($1.4 billion) — without identifying the members of the “diverse group of institutional investors” backing him.

Trump, a disinformation kingpin exiled from mainstream social media platforms, has positioned his gossamer startup, Truth Social, as a vehicle for battling “censorship and political discrimination” and the “tyranny of Big Tech.” It’s also a convenient way for Trump to continue his life’s work: separating investors and fans from their wallets by pitching promises that he routinely fails to keep.

To be sure, some investors have already done well in this charade. When the Trump Media and Technology Group announced in October that it would use Digital World Acquisition, a special purpose acquisition company (or SPAC) to go public, the SPAC’s shares skyrocketed from $US9.96 a share to $US94.20 in two days. The stock has since settled to $US44.97, but hedge funds and others that bought into DWAC early have enjoyed a handsome return.

On the other hand, the only publicly traded company Trump has managed, his ill-fated casino gambit, made multiple tours through bankruptcy, burning investors, banks and employees along the way and leaving behind a haunting collection of craters in Atlantic City. Trump, backstopped by his father, survived that meltdown, but few others did. Trump Media and Truth Social have already unfurled some red flags. They plan to open their doors early next year, but as my colleague Matt Levine has noted, they are doing so without a detailed business plan or financial projections. Trump Media also hasn’t completed its merger with DWAC or made associated securities filings. And SPACs have had shoddy track records thus far, underperforming more standard initial public offerings. (The Securities and Exchange Commission is already taking a look at DWAC, including requesting records tied to the identities of certain investors, the company disclosed on Monday.)

So, caveat emptor.

But there is another and more consequential worry in all of this. Trump is a former occupant of the Oval Office and is likely to make another presidential bid in 2024. He had his hands on the national security apparatus once before and may well again. The identities of the investors who just tossed $US1 billion his way are of interest because anyone able to buy their way into Trump’s good graces by plopping a bag of money on his desk could sway public policy — which makes Trump a national security threat.

What might it mean, for example, if countries such as Saudi Arabia or others in the Middle East have decided to invest in his venture? That’s not an entirely hypothetical question.

Former Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin recently launched an investment firm, Liberty Strategic Capital, with funding from the Saudi government and other countries in the Persian Gulf region. Mnuchin closely courted those same countries when he was one of the most powerful US financial regulators in the Trump administration, but avoiding financial conflicts of interest was never a priority for Mnuchin, Trump and many others on that team.