Former President Donald Trump’s social media outfit, Truth Social, is locked in a bitter battle with one of its vendors claiming that the platform is stiffing the company out of more than $1 million in contractually obligated payments, FOX Business has learned.

If the allegations are true, they would suggest that Truth Social’s finances are in significant disarray, people with direct knowledge of the matter say. Internet infrastructure company RightForge is said to be among Truth Social’s largest vendors and creditors, these people say.

In October, RightForge announced it entered into an agreement to host Truth Social, which Trump helped create after he was banned by Twitter following the Jan. 6 riots. RightForge now contends that Truth Social has reneged on its contractually obligated monthly payments for setting up the platform’s web-servicing infrastructure, according to three people with direct knowledge of the matter.

These people say RightForge contends that Truth Social has made just three payments and ceased making any payments since around March. RightForge claims that Truth Social owes it around $1.6 million and is threatening legal action to recoup the money, these people add.

RightForge CEO Martin Avila declined to comment “on any private matters,” but wouldn’t deny the disagreement between the two entities. He added in a statement: “Our founding vision is to make a second internet to support American ideas online. RightForge believes in the mission of President Trump’s free speech platform and wish to continue supporting the president in his media endeavors.” 

A spokesman for Truth Social also would not deny the matter when contacted by FOX Business. A spokesman for Trump had no comment.

Since its launch in February, Truth Social has been the main conduit for the former president to make public announcements and attack critics. While its reach pales in comparison to Twitter’s estimated 200-million-plus active daily users, interest in the platform has peaked recently in the aftermath of the FBI raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence.

Truth Social is part of Trump Media and Technology Group, a holding company for the platform that, according to regulatory filings, has broader plans to expand into streaming and other services to promote Trump’s political brand. Trump is said to hold a controlling interest in Truth Social, though his monetary investment in it is said to be negligible to nonexistent, and he is not in control of its day-to-day operations.

In January, former Republican California Rep. Devin Nunes was named the CEO of Trump Media with Trump described in regulatory filings as its chair. Nunes didn’t return an email for comment.

But Truth Social’s launch has been anything but smooth. Its early rollout was plagued with technological glitches. More recently, its planned merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, has been put off indefinitely amid various probes into its business dealings, including a Justice Department grand jury probe and an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Digital World and Trump Media have said they are cooperating with the probes even if they appear to be a significant stumbling block in completing the merger. In a recent regulatory filing, Digital World said it is seeking shareholder approval to delay the Sept. 8 deadline for combining the companies until next year as the investigations swirl. 

In the same filing, Digital World said: “If President Trump becomes less popular or there are further controversies that damage his credibility or the desire of people to use a platform associated with him, and from which he will derive financial benefit, [Trump Media’s] results of operations, as well as the outcome of the proposed Business combination, could be adversely affected.”

A representative for Digital World didn’t return an email and telephone call for comment. Shares of Digital World have declined more than 42% since the beginning of the year.

Trump himself faces mounting legal woes including a Justice Department probe over his role in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot; a New York state civil probe into the finances of the Trump Organization, his real estate and branding business; and, most recently, a DOJ probe into whether he mishandled classified documents at his Mar-a-Lago estate that led to the recent FBI raid.

Trump says the investigations are politically motivated as he prepares for a possible White House bid in 2024. While traffic to Truth Social has been spiking amid the controversies, it’s unclear if any of this is helping its bottom line.

In a May regulatory filing, Digital World stated: “There is no operating history upon which to base any assumption as to the likelihood that [Trump Media] will prove successful and [Trump Media] may never generate any operating revenues or ever achieve profitable operations. If TMTG is unsuccessful in addressing these risks, its business will most likely fail.” 

The filing added that Truth Social doesn’t yet generate revenues and “may begin to generate revenue from the Truth Social platform as early as 2023.”

People at RightForge believe that their business contretemps with Truth Social are rooted in the platform’s business problems, the three people tell FOX Business. RightForge bills itself as an internet company that caters to conservatives, an alternative to the progressive elite that dominates Silicon Valley.

In an interview with Axios in October 2021 announcing his partnership with Truth Social, Avila said: “If you believe that the president should be de-platformed, we believe that you’re not really interested in living in a free country. And that’s really what we’re all about is making sure that America stays true to its core ideas, and that the marketplace of ideas stays open.”

He added that RightForge was working toward creating an infrastructure so that Truth Social could compete with Twitter and have more than 75 million users. “We’re laying the groundwork for that,” Avila told the publication. “That’s why there will be servers everywhere.”

It’s unclear if Trump Social is having issues with other vendors over payment for services, these people add. One person with knowledge of the matter said Trump Social informed RightForge that it stopped making the payments over “breach of contract.” FOX Business couldn’t determine the alleged breach.

Thrill-seekers who rode El Toro at Six Flags Great Adventure flooded social media with their own horror tales after learning that five people were hospitalized.

And insiders who say they work at Six Flags have been raising alarms about turnover among workers who inspect rides at all Six Flags, including the park in Jackson, NJ, as The Post reported.

Several riders complained of back pain and five were taken to the hospital after riding the 19-story-high wooden roller coaster Thursday night.

El Toro riders posted that the ride jerked so much that they chipped their teeth and bit down on their tongues.

After the news broke, one parent described the coaster as the “roughest ride I’ve ever experienced” in a Reddit post about a July 18 visit, adding that “My 10 year old was sick for hours due to it.”

Another parent wrote on Reddit: “The last 2 times my son rode it – last week and last month – he came home the next day and complained of pulled back muscles.”

“Rode this last week for the first time in a few years – both my kid and I left seeing stars. Such a shame as it was always intense, but never painful. It needs some serious TLC,” a third parent wrote on the social media site.

After the El Toro incident, a Reddit user who claimed to work in the maintenance department wrote that the company has been “going through a crazy staff shortage,” adding that “many of the team members working [at El Toro] were recently trained or don’t work the ride very often so they don’t [really] know the ride any more than how to operate it and what to do during breakdown procedures.”

Other insiders on Reddit said that the Arlington, Texas-based company is struggling to hire and keep veteran ride technicians who inspect and maintain the equipment, as The Post reported.

“It’s become increasingly difficult to hire skilled labor to maintain our infrastructure and rides,” a Reddit user who claims to be a Six Flags employee wrote earlier this month. “We’re just hiring bodies at this point to fill the positions, and that’s not good. Safety is going to suffer.”

Six Flags did not respond to requests for comment about the ride or accusations of staff shortages.

Last year, El Toro partially derailed when the rear wheels of the rear car were elevated on the track. Six Flags was fined $5,000 for failing to notify the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs by phone immediately after the incident, according to a NJ.com report.

The ride reopened in April, but will remain closed now as the state investigates the latest incident.

“Any maintenance and repairs necessary will be completed and the ride will be re-inspected by our engineers, maintenance professionals, our third-party independent safety inspectors and the state of New Jersey prior to re-opening,” a Six Flags spokesperson told the Asbury Park Press on Friday.

The incident is just the latest setback to bedevil the company, whose new chief executive, Selim Bassoul, stirred up controversy during an earnings call this month when he said the parks had become “cheap day care centers for teenagers.”

Bassoul has been raising prices at the 27 parks, which has angered longtime season pass holders who say nothing has improved at the parks to merit such hikes. The company also disclosed that it had lost nearly 2 million customers this year, in large part due to the higher prices.

Bassoul says he wants to raise the quality of the customer who frequents the parks and to discourage “rowdy” teenagers from attending.

The company’s shares were down more than 7% on Friday afternoon.