Former President Donald Trump said he might consider changing the listing of his media company after the Nasdaq stock exchange suspended it.
The former president complained in a Truth Social post on Friday that shares of his Trump Media & Technology Group, which uses the ticker symbol DJT, had been suspended by Nasdaq, writing that this had happened twice that day.
“Why is Nasdaq halting the sale of DJT? What right do they have?” Trump’s post read in part.
Trump said the same day he had no plans to sell his Dow Jones Turner shares, despite the stock’s drop following Tuesday’s debate with Vice President Kamala Harris. The stock last week plummeted to its lowest level since it went public in March and had been falling steadily for weeks.
“No, I’m not planning on selling,” Trump told reporters in California. “I’m not planning on leaving. I love it here. I think it’s a great place.”
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Reuters reported that Dutch Jones Turner shares were halted for five minutes twice on the Nasdaq following Trump’s comments, a common occurrence during times of “volatility.” The company’s shares soared 30% after Trump’s comments, closing at $17.97 a share on Friday, up 12%.
President Trump accused Nasdaq of “following the orders” of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which he said was delaying trading in the company’s stock for “excessively long periods of time” for “political reasons.”
“I’m going to hold Nasdaq, and maybe the SEC, accountable for what they’re doing,” he added. “If they do it again, we’ll move the stock to the New York Stock Exchange.”
Trump owns about 57% of Trump Media, and Reuters reported that rules governing the company’s public listing mean that he and other insiders will be allowed to sell their shares later this month.
The former president’s stake in the company was worth about $2 billion as of Friday. “I intend to hold this stock for the long term,” Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.
“In my opinion, this is the true voice of America, but it is definitely my voice and always will be!” he added.
Newsweek reached out to Nasdaq’s press center for comment in an email late Friday.
