DJT shares soar as Trump says 'I'm not selling' stake

• Trump Media stock shot up by more than 25% after majority owner Donald Trump said he is not selling his shares.
• The Republican presidential nominee will soon be free to start cashing in his nearly 57% stake in the company that trades as DJT on the Nasdaq.
• Trading in the stock was halted briefly after Trump's comments to the press at his golf club in California.

Shares of Trump Media shot up by more than 25% on Friday, minutes after majority owner Donald Trump said he has no plans to sell his stake.

"I'm not selling," said the Republican presidential nominee, who will be free to start cashing in his nearly 57% stake in less than a week when a lockup agreement expires.

"I have absolutely no intention of selling."

Trading in the stock was halted briefly after Trump's comments to the press at his golf club in California on Friday afternoon.

Trump said that Truth Social, the Twitter-like social media platform owned by Trump Media, is "great for me," adding that his stake is still worth more than $1 billion.

"But I don't want to sell my shares. I'm not going to sell my shares," he said.

"I didn't do it for the money. I did it because I really wanted to have a strong voice, and it's a great voice for me," he said. "And as long as my voice is on there, it's going to always be good."

The company's value initially soared when it first began trading as DJT on the Nasdaq in late March after completing a merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

But the stock has plummeted in recent months, falling as much as 80% from its intraday peak.

"A lot of people think the reason it's down, is that a lot of people think I'm going to sell and if I sell, it wouldn't be the same," Trump said Friday.

Trump Media, which reported