Trump Media CEO Nunes says trading 'anomalies' are 'growing even more severe'

By Bill Peters

Complaints revolve around suspicions of illegal 'naked' short-selling

The chief executive of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind former President Donald Trump's Truth Social platform, said Tuesday that trading irregularities in the stock are "growing even more severe," and asked the Nasdaq to help with any potential investigation into the matter.

The remarks, made in a letter from Trump Media (DJT) Chief Executive Devin Nunes to the chief executive of Nasdaq Inc. (NDAQ), are the latest complaint from the media company over what it says is possible stock manipulation. Some experts have cast doubt on those claims.

Nunes, in the letter on Tuesday, said he had also asked Congress to "encourage" the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to request trading information related to the Trump platform's shares over multiple dates from April 29 to June 3.

He said that the market-making giant Citadel Securities, as well as financial firms like UBS and Cowen and Co., should be among the targets of those requests. And he asked Nasdaq to "fulsomely cooperate with any and all congressional or other investigations into these firms - including by promptly providing responsive data within Nasdaq's possession."

Nunes, a former California Republican congressional representative, in previous letters over recent weeks has asked U.S. lawmakers and the Louisiana's Office of Financial Institutions to investigate trading activity surrounding Trump Media.

Shares of Trump Media have seesawed this year, after the platform went public in March following the merger with a blank-check company. The stock was up 0.2% after hours on Tuesday.

Shares of Trump Media went on a meme-stock-like ascent in late March, before giving up those gains. The stock has fallen since the guilty verdict against the former president last week, following a trial in which he was accused of making hush-money payments to a porn star in an effort to sway the 2016 presidential election.

Nunes' complaints revolve around suspicions of illegal "naked" short-selling, in which traders sell shares without actually borrowing them or confirming they're available for borrowing. When traders short a stock - or place a bet that that it will fall - they have to borrow the shares first.

He said in Tuesday's letter that "persistent failures to deliver," or someone's inability to keep up their end of a trade, were "strong indicators that DJT may be subject to illegal 'naked' short selling."

"I write today to inform you that these acute anomalies appear to be growing even more severe," he said. "New data from the Securities and Exchange Commission for May 1-15 reveal that [failures to deliver] for DJT remain shockingly high."

"FTDs exceeded 1 million shares on seven of the 10 trading days covered by the data, and on three of those days - May 2, May 3 and May 6 - they exceeded 2 million shares," he said.

Shares of Trump Media & Technology Group are up 160% year to date.

-Bill Peters

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06-04-24 1936ET

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