The Trump Media and Technology Group (NASDAQ:DJT) has issued a statement claiming stock price manipulation. Shares in DJT have traded between $11.75 to $56.55 in the past twelve months. Shares closed yesterday at around $22.
Trump Media, affiliated with President Trump and his family, is the operator of the social media platform Truth Social. The platform was created in response to the left-wing bias of Twitter, now X, which eventually pivoted to a free speech platform following the acquisition by Elon Musk.
Publicly addressing FINRA, Trump Media makes allegations of naked short selling—a process that can drive share prices lower. If you sell shares short but do not actually sell shares, this can artificially increase the float or supply of the security. Naked Short selling is forbidden, but can be challenging to control.
DJT points to a filing by UK-based hedge fund Qube Research & Technologies. Qube is a multi-strategy hedge fund that prides itself on data and technology, including automation.
Qube’s trading is alleged to have shorted 6 million shares of DJT, which was revealed on April 11th. The value of the trade was pegged at $105 million or around 2.53% of the entire float. As of March 31st, Nasdaq reports the total short interest in DJT at 10.7 million shares. DJT claims that data distributed by TMTG indicates that the total short interest as of April 16, 2025, is virtually unchanged at approximately 11 million shares.
DJT states that a history of suspicious trading surrounding DJT stock, including DJT appearing on Nasdaq’s Regulation SHO Threshold Security List for more than two months in 2024, could be an indication of illegal naked short selling of DJT shares.
Reg SHO was initiated in 2005 by the SEC as it sought to address concerns about “failure to deliver,” IE, shares sold short but no actual shares being sold. The SEC requires firms that clear and settle trades to deliver securities to a clearing agency for settlement on a long or short sale in any equity security by the settlement date. Alternatively, a firm may close out failures to deliver by borrowing or purchasing the securities.
Trump Media asks FINRA to immediately investigate the activity and to report any relevant activity to criminal and civil authorities. DJT state that exchanges should operate “with full transparency and maximum efficiency, not as an opaque free-for-all reminiscent of a third-world casino.”