{"id":65051,"date":"2026-07-19T18:38:14","date_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:38:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-media-settles-long-standing-legal-battles-as-spacex-eyes-july-23-for-starship-flight-13\/65051\/"},"modified":"2026-07-19T18:38:14","modified_gmt":"2026-07-19T22:38:14","slug":"trump-media-settles-long-standing-legal-battles-as-spacex-eyes-july-23-for-starship-flight-13","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/trump-media-settles-long-standing-legal-battles-as-spacex-eyes-july-23-for-starship-flight-13\/65051\/","title":{"rendered":"Trump Media Settles Long-Standing Legal Battles as SpaceX Eyes July 23 for Starship Flight 13"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>Key Takeaways<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Trump Media (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJT\">DJT<\/a>)<\/strong> has reached a <strong>confidential settlement<\/strong> resolving all legal disputes with former SPAC CEO <strong>Patrick Orlando<\/strong> and <strong>ARC Global Investments II LLC<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li><strong>SpaceX<\/strong> is targeting as early as <strong>July 23, 2026<\/strong>, for the <strong>13th flight test<\/strong> of its <strong>Starship<\/strong> launch system following a recent launch-pad abort.<\/li>\n<li><strong>U.S. Equity Futures<\/strong> remained largely flat in early Sunday evening trading, with <strong><a href=\"https:\/\/stockmarketwatch.com\/indices\/sp500\/today\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"3\" title=\"snp500 today\">S&amp;P 500<\/a> futures<\/strong> holding steady and <strong>Nasdaq 100 futures<\/strong> edging up <strong>0.1%<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<li>The <strong>Trump Media<\/strong> settlement effectively removes a significant overhang of legal uncertainty regarding the company\u2019s 2024 merger and equity distribution.<\/li>\n<li><strong>Starship Flight 13<\/strong> will attempt to deploy <strong>20 Starlink V3 satellites<\/strong> and perform a critical in-space <strong>Raptor engine relight<\/strong>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Trump Media Clears Legal Hurdle with Confidential Deal<\/h2>\n<p>Trump Media &amp; Technology Group (<a href=\"\/stock\/DJT\">DJT<\/a>), the parent company of <strong>Truth Social<\/strong>, announced on July 19, 2026, that it has mutually resolved all pending legal claims with <strong>Patrick Orlando<\/strong> and <strong>ARC Global Investments II LLC<\/strong>. The settlement, the terms of which remain <strong>confidential<\/strong>, brings an end to a series of high-profile disputes stemming from the company&#39;s merger with the SPAC <strong>Digital World Acquisition Corp<\/strong>.<\/p>\n<p>The resolution is expected to provide <strong>TMTG<\/strong> with greater operational stability as it continues to expand its digital ecosystem, including the <strong>Truth+<\/strong> streaming service and <strong>Truth.Fi<\/strong> fintech brand. <em>Investors have closely watched these legal proceedings, as they involved allegations of breach of contract and disputes over the conversion rate of sponsor shares.<\/em> By clearing these hurdles, the company can now focus its resources on its stated mission of providing a &quot;free speech&quot; alternative to mainstream social media platforms.<\/p>\n<h2>SpaceX Targets July 23 for Starship&#39;s 13th Test Flight<\/h2>\n<p><strong>SpaceX<\/strong> has updated its launch window for the <strong>13th Starship flight test<\/strong>, now targeting as early as <strong>July 23, 2026<\/strong>. This new date follows a scrubbed attempt on July 16, when the vehicle&#39;s flight software triggered an <strong>automatic abort<\/strong> at T-0 due to four <strong>Raptor engines<\/strong> failing to meet starting parameters. CEO <strong>Elon Musk<\/strong> later confirmed that two engines would be replaced to ensure a successful mission.<\/p>\n<p>The upcoming flight will utilize <strong>Booster 20<\/strong> and <strong>Ship 40<\/strong>, representing the latest &quot;Version 3&quot; hardware. <em>The mission&#39;s primary objectives include a controlled splashdown of the Super Heavy booster in the Gulf of Mexico and the deployment of 20 next-generation Starlink V3 satellites.<\/em> Additionally, the mission aims to demonstrate an <strong>in-space relight<\/strong> of a Raptor engine, a maneuver essential for future orbital deorbiting and deep-space missions.<\/p>\n<h2>Market Outlook: Futures Hold Steady Amid Global Volatility<\/h2>\n<p>U.S. stock index futures showed little movement in early trading on Sunday evening. <strong>S&amp;P 500 futures<\/strong> were virtually unchanged, while <strong>Nasdaq 100 futures<\/strong> saw a modest gain of <strong>0.1%<\/strong>. This quiet start to the week follows a period of heightened volatility in the semiconductor sector and ongoing geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p><em>Market participants are bracing for a heavy week of earnings reports and economic data, which could dictate the next major move for the major indices.<\/em> While the <strong>S&amp;P 500<\/strong> has remained within striking distance of its all-time highs, the <strong>Nasdaq<\/strong> has faced pressure from a rotation out of large-cap technology stocks. Traders will be looking for signs of a broader market recovery as the <strong>Federal Reserve&#39;s<\/strong> next policy meeting approaches.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Key Takeaways Trump Media (DJT) has reached a confidential settlement resolving all legal disputes with former SPAC CEO Patrick Orlando [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50383,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"rank_math_schema_Article":[],"rank_math_focus_keyword":[],"rank_math_description":[],"financial_data_references":[],"stock_symbols_mentioned":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5012],"tags":[95,3799,3876,4833,8937,20629],"class_list":["post-65051","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-breaking-news","tag-nasdaq","tag-djt","tag-tmtg","tag-spacex","tag-starship","tag-patrick-orlando"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65051","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65051"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65051\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50383"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65051"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65051"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www2.stockmarketwatch.com\/stock-market-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65051"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}