Trump Media Stock Plunges, Briefly Halted on Wall Street
Trump Media & Technology Group (DJT), the company behind former President Donald Trump's social media platform Truth Social, experienced a turbulent day on Wall Street Tuesday. The stock price initially climbed, reaching an intraday high of $33.85, but then plummeted in the afternoon, triggering a brief trading halt.
The pause occurred at 2:42 p.m. Eastern Time and lasted for approximately five minutes. It was automatically triggered by the New York Stock Exchange due to the stock's unusual volatility.
After trading resumed, DJT continued its downward spiral, closing the day at $27.06, down $2.89 or 9.6%. This decline erased some of the recent gains that had lifted the stock from its September 24 low.
The reasons behind the sudden drop remain unclear. Some speculate it could be related to the recent outages experienced by World Liberty Financial, the Trump family's new cryptocurrency platform. Others point to the increased trading volume, which was significantly higher than the average daily volume for the past 30 days.
On Truth Social, Trump Media investors expressed frustration and blamed short sellers for the stock's decline. However, the Securities and Exchange Commission does not control trading halts, which are activated by stock exchanges.
Earlier this year, Trump Media had complained to Nasdaq, the stock exchange where the company is listed, about potential market manipulation due to short-selling activity.
The future trajectory of DJT stock remains uncertain. Its performance has been seen as a reflection of Trump's chances of winning the November 5 presidential election. With recent prediction markets favoring Trump, it will be interesting to see how the stock reacts in the coming weeks.