Trump Threatens the NASDAQ After Exchange Halts Trading on His Media Company: ‘What’s Going On?’

AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura

Former President Donald Trump threatened the NASDAQ on Friday after the stock exchange briefly halted trading on Trump Media & Technology Group (ticker: DJT ), which owns Truth Social.

It was a wild day for the stock, which jumped more than 25% after the former president said in a press conference on Friday that he is not selling his shares.

“No, I’m not selling,” he said when asked if he will sell his shares. “No, I love it.”

Trump’s declaration prompted the stock to go parabolic. Not surprisingly, NASDAQ stopped trading on the security, which is standard practice when a stock’s price experiences huge swings in one direction or another. Trading was halted twice, each for five minutes. The security was one of dozens of listings on the exchange to be halted on Friday.

In response, the ex-president went on Truth Social to express his bewilderment and to threaten the operators of the exchange:

Why is NASDAQ halting the sale of DJT? What right do they have to do this? They have done it twice today. What’s going on? Are they taking orders from the SEC, which, for political reasons, delayed us for an inordinate amount of time, therefore hurting the stock very badly? I am going to hold NASDAQ, and maybe the SEC, liable for doing what they are doing. If they do it again, we will move the stock to the New York Stock Exchange. It is my 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!

With a 60% stake, Trump is the majority shareholder of Trump Media & Technology Group. However, a lockup provision has prevented him from selling shares. That provision expires on Sept. 19. The stock has tanked in recent months amid speculation that the former president may seek to dump large amounts of shares in a short period of time, which would create downward pressure on the price. Currently, Trump owns 115 million shares that are valued at more than $2 billion.

The company’s financials are in dire straits, as it lost $58.2 million last year while bringing in just $4.1 million in revenue. Despite the day’s jump, the share price, which closed at $17.97 on Friday, is a long way away from this year’s high near $80 a share.