There has been rampant speculation among stock market watchers that former President Donald Trump would soon unload some or all of his majority stake shares in Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent company of his Truth Social platform.

During a press conference on Friday, however, Trump made it clear that he is "not selling" his shares and plans to retain his majority stake in the publicly traded company, according to The New York Times.

The announcement prompted a sharp surge in share price value for the stock that resulted in two separate forced pauses in trading and led to a fiery response from Trump against what he viewed as partisan acts to negatively impact the stock's worth.

Trump has "no intention of selling"

When the DJT stock was first listed on the NASDAQ market following a merger in March, the new company surged in value and former President Trump, by way of his 115 million shares representing a 57% stake, saw his estimated wealth on paper soar higher by several billion dollars.

There was a six-month so-called "lock up" imposed on shareholders, including Trump, when the stock first debuted that prevented them from selling any shares or even using them as collateral for loans, but that period just ended and there had been widespread speculation that the former president would cash in some or all of those shares to further bolster his actual wealth.

That speculation had fueled a steady decline in the stock's value over the past few weeks and months, but all of that appears to have changed following Trump's remarks during Friday's press conference at one of his golf clubs in California, according to CNBC.

"I’m not selling," Trump said. "I have absolutely no intention of selling."

Trump observed that the parent company of Truth Social, currently valued at around $2 billion, had been "great for me," but insisted, "I don’t want to sell my shares. I’m not going to sell my shares," and further explained, "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. And as long as my voice is on there, it’s going to always be good."

Trading paused for "volatility" amid surge in value

CNBC reported that Trump's commentary triggered a surge in the trading of DJT shares that boosted the stock's value by as much as 25%, though it ultimately ended the day up by 11%.

Before Trump's announcement about not selling, the stock had fallen by about 80% from its initial high when it debuted, but Trump explained, "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."

The outlet also noted that NASDAQ temporarily paused trading of DJT shares on two occasions throughout the day due to the stock's "volatility," which prompted an outraged response from the former president and majority stakeholder and an apparent threat of legal action against NASDAQ and the federal U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

What did Trump say?

"Why is NASDAQ halting the sale of DJT? What right do they have to do this? They have done it twice today. What’s going on? Are they taking orders from the SEC, which, for political reasons, delayed us for an inordinate amount of time, therefore hurting the stock very badly?" Trump wrote in a Truth Social post.

"I am going to hold NASDAQ, and maybe the SEC, liable for doing what they are doing. If they do it again, we will move the stock to the New York Stock Exchange," he threatened.

Trump added, "It is my intention to own this stock for a long period of time. In my opinion, it is THE REAL VOICE OF AMERICA, but it is definitely MY VOICE, and it will be for a long time to come!"