Former President Donald Trump said he may consider moving his media company’s stock listing after it was briefly halted on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
In a post to Truth Social on Friday, the former president complained about shares of Trump Media & Technology Group, which uses the ticker DJT, being halted by Nasdaq, writing that it had occurred twice during the day.
“Why is NASDAQ halting the sale of DJT? What right do they have to do this?” read Trump’s post, in part.
Earlier in the day, Trump said that he will not sell his shares of DJT despite the stock value dropping after his debate against Vice President Kamala Harris on Tuesday. The share price plummeted to its lowest level last week since going public in March, and had faced a steady decline for weeks.
“No, I’m not selling,” Trump said while talking to reporters in California. “I’m not leaving. I love it. I think it’s great.”
Reuters reported that shares of DJT were halted by the Nasdaq for two five-minute periods after Trump’s comments, which is common practice during times of “volatility.” After Trump’s statements, the company’s stock price surged as much as 30 percent and closed out Friday with a 12 percent gain on the day, at $17.97 per share.
Trump accused Nasdaq of “taking orders” from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which Trump said had “political reasons” to delay trading his company’s stock “for an inordinate amount of time.”
“I am going to hold NASDAQ, and maybe the SEC, liable for doing what they are doing,” he added. “If they do it again, we will move the stock to the New York Stock Exchange.”
Trump owns roughly 57 percent of Trump Media. Reuters reported that, according to provisions related to the company’s listing, Trump and other insiders will be allowed to sell stock later this month.
The former president’s stake in the company is worth about $2 billion as of Friday. In his post to Truth Social, Trump wrote that it was his “intention to own this stock for a long period of time.”
“In my opinion, it is THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA, but it is definitely MY VOICE, and it will be for a long time to come!” he added.
