Trading in Trump's social media stock surges, trading halted

Shares of former President Trump's Digital World Acquisition Corp., the tech firm taking public his proposed social media platform public, surged Thursday and Friday, following the announcement Wednesday evening. 

Trading of the DWAC stock was halted Friday due to volatility several times during Friday morning trading after it skyrocketed 216% at one point, according to the Epoch Times.

On Thursday, the stock surged over 300% to close at $35.54.

Epoch Times reports speculation that small retail investors may be behind the surge, amid Twitter and sub-Reddit chatter. Similar situations occurred earlier this year with so-called "meme stocks" like GameStop and AMC, the Epoch Times also reports.

The new firm has stated that its "mission is to create a rival to the liberal media consortium and fight back against the 'Big Tech' companies of Silicon Valley, which have used their unilateral power to silence opposing voices in America."

The former president also announced he would launch a social media platform, Truth Social, coming after Facebook, Twitter, and Google suspended Trump’s accounts in early January.