Wall Street firms are reportedly paying up to $100,000 a month for a head start on Donald Trump’s social media posts, which have the potential to move financial markets within seconds.
Bloomberg, a major financial news and data provider, and high-frequency trading firms Susquehanna International Group and Jump Trading have signed up for the paid service offered by Trump Media & Technology Group DJT, according to a Reuters report published Wednesday.
None of the three firms has confirmed the reported subscriptions. Trump Media, which operates Truth Social, disputed the report, describing it as based on misleading information from anonymous sources.
Why are firms paying for Trump’s posts?
The service, called Truth API, is a data feed that delivers posts from influential Truth Social accounts to subscribers faster than they would otherwise receive them.
Trump Media officials have described the timing advantage as approximately 50 milliseconds.
That fraction of a second can matter to high-frequency trading firms, which use automated systems to analyse information and execute trades in milliseconds.
When the US president comments on tariffs, interest rates, military conflicts or other policy matters, financial markets can react sharply.
For these firms, receiving a market-moving post before other traders could provide an advantage in responding to sudden price changes.
Trump Media introduced Truth API in July and began offering the service to institutional customers in August.
The company said in July that it had signed more than 10 customer agreements, with subscriptions reportedly priced between $60,000 and $100,000 a month. Trump Media said the customers were primarily Wall Street trading firms.
Why is the service controversial?
The arrangement raises questions about conflicts of interest because Trump’s family trust owns 41% of Trump Media, and the president is the trust’s sole beneficiary.
The reported deals could mark the first time a business tied to a sitting US president has sold paid access to his statements, according to Reuters.
Critics argue that charging for faster access to posts that can influence markets creates concerns about fairness and the use of public office for private financial benefit.
Richard Painter, who served as chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, told the BBC that selling information obtained through government responsibilities to people who could trade on it may raise insider-trading concerns.
“If I were commissioner of the SEC, I would threaten to resign unless they put a stop to this plan or promise that no posts… that have to do with US government business [will be included],” Painter said.
In July, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service violated securities laws. The SEC declined to comment on the request.
Separately, Intercept Media and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump in August, seeking to prevent the White House from publishing official government announcements exclusively on Truth Social while the paid feed exists.
The ongoing lawsuit argues that such an arrangement could be unconstitutional and give wealthy financial firms preferential access to government information.
White House and company responses
White House spokesman Davis Ingle said neither Trump nor his family was directly involved in portfolio investment decisions, but did not address allegations that the president was improperly using his office.
Trump Media said Truth API was an industry-standard data product with significant demand across industries. It also said it takes customer confidentiality seriously and rejected the reporting as misleading.
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