Trump Media CEO says he will do ‘whatever it takes’ to protect DJT investors from short sellers
Devin Nunes, executive director of Truth Social, speaks during the Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) in National Harbor, Maryland, US, on Thursday, March 2, 2023.
Al Drago | Bloomberg | beautiful images
Trump Communications CEO Devin Nunes on Friday said he would “do whatever it takes” to protect the company’s retail investors from possible illegal activities. short-term trading its shares.
“If we have to go to Congress or if we have to take legal action, we will do everything we can to protect our retail investors,” Nunes said in an interview with right-wing media outlet Newsmax. me”.
Nunes also appealed to the President Joe Biden for mentioning Trump Media’s stock price in a speech earlier this week.
“Isn’t that strange?” Nunes said.
Delivering remarks in Scranton, Pennsylvania, on Tuesday, Biden dug deep Donald Trumphis Republican election opponent in November, as Trump Media shares fell from their original price of more than $70.
“If Trump’s stock in Truth Social — his company — drops even lower, he could do better with my tax plan than with his,” Biden said.
Trump Media shares, traded by ticker symbol DJT, recovered this weekend, but has fallen sharply from its peak. That left Trump, the company’s largest shareholder, with a reduced paper value of his 60% stake.
Nunes’ comments on Newsmax further bolstered his earlier theory that DJT’s stock decline was at least partly due to accusations of illegal market manipulation.
Earlier on Friday, Nunes warned the Nasdaq CEO that the drop in Trump Media’s stock price could be due to “naked” short selling, a trading practice in which sellers bet that the stock will fall price. It involves a trader selling shares that have not been borrowed or arranging to borrow.
“Reports indicate that, as of April 3, 2024, DJT was ‘by far’ the most expensive US stock to short,’ meaning that traders broker has a significant financial incentive to lend out non-existent shares.” to the Securities and Exchange Commission, citing CNBC.
Nunes said Trump Media appeared on Nasdaq “Reg SHO Threshold List,” may indicate illegal trading behavior.
However, the SEC notes on its website that naked short selling is “not necessarily a violation of federal securities laws” unless it is intentionally deployed to manipulate the market. It also says that a stock appearing on the Reg SHO threshold list is not necessarily a sign of illegal trading activity.
After that day, Citadel Securitiesone of the market companies named in the letter, ridiculed Nunes, calling him “the proverbial loser who tries to blame ‘blatant short selling’ for his stock price decline.”
In an interview with Newsmax, Nunes seemed to dispute that claim: “If you think there’s nothing wrong, you say there’s nothing wrong. Basically, you don’t go out and attack me personally.”
Citadel Securities founder Ken Griffin is a major donor to Republican candidates, including Nunes, who served as a Republican House representative in California before taking the helm of Trump Media.
