Former President Donald Trump has offered up a baffling defense for why his social media company Trump Media & Technology Group opted against a coveted listing on the New York Stock Exchange. Sadly for Trump, his tale about spurning the NYSE to avoid getting “attacked” in New York made little practical sense.
According to Trump, he decided to take Truth Social’s parent company public through a merger with a Nasdaq-listed firm rather than an NYSE direct listing – even though the bigger NYSE exchange was practically begging for his business. Why? Trump claims he wanted to bypass the big, bad New York scene altogether.
“We could have gone NASDAQ or New York Stock Exchange,” Trump recounted at a press conference Monday. “The New York Stock Exchange wanted us so badly, the top person is mortified, can’t believe it.”
But Trump says he waved them off, telling the unnamed “top person” at NYSE:
“We’re not going on the New York because we’re being persecuted in New York, businesspeople are treated too badly in New York, and we don’t want to be attacked by a thug like this horrible attorney general that we have in New York.”
The rationale might sound defensible on its face for someone wanting to avoid New York’s perceived hostilities. But there’s one glaring problem – the Nasdaq exchange is headquartered in the exact same New York City locale as the NYSE Trump claims to be dodging. They’re literally about a mile apart in lower Manhattan.
As corporate law experts were quick to point out, Trump’s company will be subject to the same New York jurisdiction, laws, and political oversight being listed on Nasdaq as it would have on the NYSE. It’s akin to claiming you’re avoiding Macy’s because you don’t want to shop in New York…only to go spend your money at Bloomingdale’s right next door instead.
“It’s just mind-bogglingly nonsensical,” said Yale professor Jonathan Macey, who deemed the story the corporate equivalence of deciding between two New York subway stops on the same line. “The same investor protection rules that safeguard investors of the NYSE also safeguard investors on Nasdaq.”
Beyond the geographic point, there are some curious factual holes in Trump’s retelling as well. For one, the “top person” he cites as being “mortified” over Truth Social’s rejection is inexplicably referred to using male pronouns. The president of the NYSE since 2022 is Lynn Martin, with her predecessor also being a woman in Stacey Cunningham.
When reached for comment on Trump’s account of events, an NYSE spokesperson simply stated the exchange “would welcome the company for listing.” The Big Board seemingly has no clue what Trump is referring to.
Of course, Trump has offered up various other doubtful claims around Truth Social’s debut, including insisting he has no idea why the company is using the “DJT” ticker on Nasdaq – his infamous initials. The company has declined to explain the reasoning behind the curious stock symbol choice.
While Trump’s dubious victimhood tale about a New York Stock Exchange snub might fuel his aggrieved base, it falls apart under basic scrutiny. Legally and geographically, there’s no safe space from New York that magically emerges by choosing Nasdaq over the NYSE.
Unless Trump’s team desperately needed to split hairs between two Manhattan addresses that are a 15-minute walk apart, the former president’s latest introduction to the public markets is playing out squarely under the same New York jurisdiction he insists he’s evading.
