Truth Social Files Complaint with Nasdaq, Blames Market Manipulation for Stock Price

Trump Media, the parent company that owns Truth Social, has filed a formal complaint with the Nasdaq, expressing concern for potential market manipulation impacting the stock.

The platform’s stock, DJT, has actually been doing well lately, all things considered. The stock gained as much as 45.3% this week, which is the best boost it’s gotten in nearly a month, Marketwatch writes. DJT had its best day immediately after it merged with a blank check company to become a publicly traded company in March. However, since then, it has suffered a number of downturns in value. CNN reports that it’s currently down about 50 percent since its all-time high last month.

Now, the company has sent a letter to the head of Nasdaq, expressing concerns that “potential market manipulation” is impacting the stock. The letter, which was sent on Thursday and made public Friday in an SEC filing, is written by Devin Nunes, the former Congressman and Trump presidential transition team member who now serves as Trump Media’s CEO. The letter from Nunes states:

I write to bring your attention to potential market manipulation of the stock of Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (“TMTG”), which operates the Truth Social platform and has traded on the Nasdaq Stock Market under the ticker “DJT” since March 26, 2024. As you know, “naked” short selling—selling shares of a stock without first borrowing the shares of stock deemed difficult to locate—is generally illegal pursuant to Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”) Regulation SHO.

The SEC says naked short selling can hurt impacted companies. The letter notes that, as of Wednesday, DJT had appeared on the Nasdaq’s “Reg SHO threshold list,” which is “indicative of unlawful trading activity.” Such lists, which are a regulatory requirement, can be indicative “of improper naked short selling,” Investopedia claims.

The letter also claims that data “made available” to the Trump Media and Technology Group indicates that “just four market participants have been responsible for over 60% of the extraordinary volume of DJT shares traded: Citadel Securities, VIRTU Americas, G1 Execution Services, and Jane Street Capital.” Nunes’s letter concludes that this is “particularly troubling given that ‘naked’ short selling often entails sophisticated market participants profiting at the expense of retail investors.”

In response to the claims, Citadel Securities brutally roasted Nunes in a statement the firm has been circulating to the press. That statement, which the company forwarded to Gizmodo, reads: “Devin Nunes is the proverbial loser who tries to blame ‘naked short selling’ for his falling stock price,” the statement reads. “Nunes is exactly the type of person Donald Trump would have fired on The Apprentice. If he [Nunes] worked for Citadel Securities, we would fire him, as ability and integrity are at the center of everything we do.”

Ouch. I’m not sure I’ve ever read a corporate press release that reads more like it was generated in a frat house. My condolences, Devin.

After Trump Media filed its complaint on Friday, the stock enjoyed another small bump, rising 12 percent and then settling back to a gain of 2 percent, Marketwatch reports.

Gizmodo reached out to TMTG, Virtu, Jane Street Capital, and Susquehanna International Group, which owns G1X, as well as the Nasdaq, for comment. We will update this story when they respond.