Image source, Getty Images
- author, Falea Massoud
- role, BBC News Business Reporter
Shares of Donald Trump’s social media company rose as much as 70% in pre-market trading after surviving an assassination attempt on Saturday.
Analysts said traders believe the shooting increases Trump’s chances of winning the November election.
The gunman was shot in the ear during a campaign rally and was killed by a Secret Service sniper moments later.
“I should have died, I shouldn’t have been here,” Trump said in his first interview since the attack.
After an early surge, shares of Trump Media, which owns Truth Social, are up about 50% in pre-market trading, when shares can be bought and sold before the markets officially open.
“The assassination attempt is being seen by some traders as a sign that Trump is even more likely to win the election,” said Wall Street analyst Carey Leahy.
“This is more of an election deal than a business deal. The company is struggling to grow. If his chances of winning improve, will the company be worth more? Some traders think so.”
“I am confident that if Biden withdraws, Truth Social’s stock price will fall,” he added.
Trump founded the Trump Media and Technology Group in 2021 after he lost the 2020 presidential election and was briefly banned from major social platforms including Twitter and Facebook for inciting violence following the U.S. Capitol riot.
Truth Social follows a format much like X (formerly Twitter) and has around 2 million active users, although the number varies depending on the source.
Trump is the largest shareholder.
Trump Media’s stock price has been volatile since it went public on the Nasdaq in March, tied to events in Trump’s life.
Trump told US media on Monday that he felt he had been saved “by luck or by God.”
“The most surprising thing is that I [my head] But I had to deflect by the exact amount, at the exact time,” he said, adding that a bullet that grazed his ear could have easily killed him.
The attack left one spectator dead and two seriously injured by the perpetrator, named as Thomas Matthew Crookes.
