Trump Media looking to sell early access to financial posts

In what some say is a brazen pitch from Trump Media & Technology Group, beginning on
August 1, the president’s company, which owns his Truth Social platform, is launching a
paid service to give Wall Street firms high-speed access to its most influential posts,
though it has not been determined that the paid access will include President Trump’s
posts.
The company hopes the app will create a positive revenue stream for the company which is
currently operating at a net loss.
The likely market for the app is financial traders who want to see market-moving news fast.
Trump’s social media posts, especially those written about trade and tariffs, often cause
great swings in the market. For many firms, a delay of even seconds can be costly.
“Markets already move on Truth Social posts,” said Kevin McGurn, the interim boss of
Trump Media, and claimed the service will create a steady revenue stream. The service will
run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Some critics, however, are not exactly comfortable with the practice of the President selling
insights to Wall Street firms to generate personal profit. Senator Mark Warner, a Senior
Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, urged the heads of the nations top
financial industry trade groups to disavow the arrangement, arguing that it would allow
Trump to personally profit from the announcements.
Warner warned that the act could create a “very troubling form of information asymmetry”
for government policy. Wall Street firms have been, to this point, cool to the offer.
One source at a large bank said their institution would not be acquiring the API, and if it did,
a review of the political risk would be needed. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the
person said access to the President’s Truth Social posts would create a different risk than
buying faster access to market or trading data, as it would mean paying for access to a
government official disclosing policy.

Warner sent a letter to the heads of six major financial trade groups stating, “I upresident’s
make clear that the financial services industry will not legitimize an arrangement that sells

privileged access to market-moving presidential communications, especially for the
presidents personal financial benefit.”

The product, called ‘Truth API’, will deliver posts from the 10 most influential accounts to
customers at a significantly faster pace than the regular notifications on Truth Social. While
tech platforms are generally allowed to offer clients early access to data, some ethics
experts claim the situation is unusual because Trump’s posts are government information.
Some sources have reported that the social media platform has discussed charging Wall
Street investment firms as much as $100,000 per month. Trump Media has also reportedly
offered a discounted rate of $60,000 per month for firms that sign up for three years.

Trump Media, which launched its social media app in 2022, said some firms have been
copying its data for months without permission. McGurn warned that Trump Media will
soon block these methods and force firms to buy the official feed instead.
The Donald J. Trump revocable trust holds roughly 114.75 million shares, representing
about 41% of all outstanding stock in Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media and
Technology Group. The trust administers Trump’s investments and is overseen by his
children.
“As adoption grows,” said McGurn, “we expect Truth API to become a meaningful, ongoing
source of revenue for the company, creating lasting value for shareholders.”