Fact Check: President Trump Tells ‘Amazing Nonsense’ Story About New York Stock Exchange

Washington
CNN
—

former president donald trump I was talking to He said on Monday that Trump Media & Technology Group would be transferred to the New York Stock Exchange even though the exchange wanted it “badly” because the businessman was “treated so poorly in New York.” He claimed that he had decided not to list the company. I don’t want to be attacked by thugs like the scary Attorney General in New York. ”

There’s one problem. The story doesn’t make sense.

facts first: Stock exchanges where Trump Media & Technology Group is listed listedNasdaq is The head office is also in New York. In fact, the NASDAQ and the New York Stock Exchange are located in the same Manhattan borough of New York City. In other words, all New York state laws and political oversight that would apply if we were listed on the New York Stock Exchange also apply if we were listed on Nasdaq.

Jonathan Macy, a professor of corporate, corporate finance and securities law at Yale Law School, called Trump’s story “mind-boggling nonsense.”

Macy laughed many times while talking about this in an interview. That’s the same as saying you avoid shopping at Macy’s in New York and instead shop at Bloomingdale’s next door to avoid persecution in New York, he said. He said, “What?”

“I hope someone advising President Trump tells him that the same investor protection rules that protect investors on the New York Stock Exchange also protect investors on the Nasdaq Stock Market,” Macy said. he said.

Trump, now the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, told a news conference about the incident, criticizing New York Attorney General Letitia James and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, who filed the lawsuit against him. (You can read more about the day’s major developments here.)

He stated that “the stock exchange officials are very upset” about the decision to not list the company on the New York Stock Exchange, and claimed that “top management is frustrated and in disbelief.” He then said the following about the alleged NYSE employee: “He said, ‘We’re losing business because of New York, because people don’t want to be in New York and they don’t want to be listed on the New York Stock Exchange.’ So you can ask them about that.’ he said.

But the “head” of the New York Stock Exchange is not “he.” Lynn Martin, who will become president of the New York Stock Exchange starting in 2022, is a woman, as was her predecessor, Stacey Cunningham. The NYSE board of directors is chaired by a woman, Sharon Bowen.

A New York Stock Exchange spokeswoman declined to comment on Trump’s description of the supposed conversation. A spokesperson said the exchange welcomes Mr. Trump on board.

“America’s capital markets are the envy of the world, and investors are benefiting from more, not fewer, publicly traded companies. New York should be open for business for all types of capital formation. With respect to Digital World Acquisition Corporation and Trump Media and Technology Group, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has declared the business combination of both companies to be valid, and the Company is listed on the New York Stock Exchange. We welcome the listing,” the spokesperson said.

The company, which owns social media platform Truth Social, is scheduled to begin trading on the Nasdaq on Tuesday.

Unsubstantiated claims about Biden and his trial

Trump also repeated common baseless claims about his lawsuit.

President Trump claimed that “this was all Biden-led” and that “these are all Biden trials.” He also claimed that Matthew Colangelo, a former senior Justice Department official who now works for Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, was “brought into” the district attorney’s office by President Joe Biden.

A New York judge set an April 15 start date for his criminal trial in Manhattan on charges of falsifying business records in connection with the hush-money scheme, and a separate appeals court reduced his post-trial bail. I gave a lecture based on what I had learned. be held liable for civil fraud.

Facts first: Mr. Trump’s claims have no basis. First, there is no evidence that Biden was involved in filing or carrying out any criminal or civil lawsuits against Trump. The Manhattan prosecutor’s office is directed by Mr. Bragg, and the civil fraud case is directed by New York State Attorney General Letitia James, both of whom are elected officials who do not report to the president or the federal Justice Department. Second, there is no evidence that Biden had any relationship with Colangelo’s presidency. Decision to resign from the U.S. Department of Justice and join the District Attorney’s Office in 2022 as Senior Advisor to Bragg. Mr. Colangelo and Mr. Bragg have known each other since before Mr. Bragg was elected Manhattan district attorney.

There is no evidence for President Trump’s claims about Biden.

James filed the lawsuit that led to Trump’s civil fraud trial in September 2022, about two months before Trump launched his 2024 campaign. The lawsuit emerged from an investigation she began in 2019, about two years before Biden took office as president. And there is no indication that Mr. Biden played any role in bringing criminal charges against Mr. Trump in Manhattan or Fulton County, Georgia. These prosecutions have been led by elected district attorneys.

Meanwhile, two federal indictments against Trump were brought by special counsel Jack Smith. Mr. Smith was appointed in November 2022 by Mr. Biden’s attorney general, Merrick Garland, but that is not evidence that Mr. Biden was involved in prosecutorial activities, much less as Mr. Trump had previously claimed. There is no evidence that Mr. Biden personally ordered the indictment. Garland said he would resign if Biden was asked to take action against Trump, but he was confident that would never happen.

Notably, grand juries made up of civilians in New York, Georgia, Florida, and Washington, D.C., approved indictments in each of Trump’s four criminal cases.

Colangelo’s movements

Trump also offered no evidence for his repeated claim that Biden orchestrated Colangelo’s 2022 transfer from the Justice Department to the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office. Mr. Colangelo and Mr. Bragg previously worked together in the New York State Attorney General’s Office, where Mr. Colangelo was involved in investigating Mr. Trump’s charity and financial practices and filing various lawsuits against the Trump administration. Ta.

Colangelo served as acting deputy attorney general during the first few months of the Biden administration in early 2021, and then as principal deputy attorney general. As acting assistant attorney general, he was the third-ranking official at the Justice Department, but was never the department’s top official, as President Trump has previously claimed.