Truth Social to charge traders for early access to Trump posts
Trump’s media company will sell high-frequency traders millisecond-early access to his market-moving posts, creating a new revenue stream as its stock price plummets.
Trump Media & Technology Group plans to launch a subscription service next month that will allow high-frequency trading firms to see posts from top accounts on Truth Social milliseconds before the general public. The company expects the product, Truth PSI, to become a "meaningful" source of revenue by "monetizing proprietary assets," according to CEO Kevin McGurn.
The target customers are algorithmic traders who rely on split-second advantages to execute profitable trades in stocks, bonds, and commodities. Because the president commands 12.9 million followers on the platform, his account is presumed to be among the "highest-ranking" feeds included. Trump Media has not confirmed if his posts will be excluded, nor has it disclosed pricing, but stated it has already signed up customers.
Presidential announcements on Truth Social have repeatedly triggered violent market swings. When Trump previewed sweeping tariffs on April 2, writing “It’s Liberation Day in America,” equities fell nearly 5% while safe-haven assets surged. Days later, his post stating “THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO BUY!!!” preceded a 9.5% S&P 500 rally that added $4 trillion in value. Similarly, a June post about an Iran ceasefire caused oil prices to plunge instantly.
The move represents an aggressive attempt to rescue a crumbling stock price. Since Trump took office, Trump Media shares have collapsed more than 70%, falling from a close of $40 to $9.66. The company recently replaced former Congressman Devin Nunes with McGurn and has tried to diversify into crypto, financial services, and nuclear fusion, all without success. The market reacted coolly to the Truth PSI announcement, lifting the stock just 0.6% on Thursday.
Legal and ethics experts condemned the arrangement. “It’s odious, selling access to highest bidders on Wall Street,” said Dylan Hedler-Gaudette of the Project on Government Oversight, noting that "everything he says has market implications." Kathleen Clark, a government ethics expert at Washington University School of Law, called it "yet more brazen corruption," adding that "Trump can line his pockets by selling access."
Conflict-of-interest statutes generally prevent federal officials from owning businesses that profit by selling access to their official decisions. However, Clark noted that the president and vice president are explicitly excluded from this provision. While previous presidents voluntarily divested or used blind trusts, Trump has refused. The White House and Trump Media both declined to comment on the matter.
