NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own affecting national security and financial markets.
The move announced Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates. Called Truth PSI, it would mimic paid access at other platforms with one key difference: The most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself and, as the biggest shareholder of the public traded parent company, would directly benefit.
“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflicts of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”
The Trump family company declined to comment. Truth Social’s public parent, Trump Media & Technology, did not immediately respond to emailed questions, including whether the president’s posts will be excluded from the offering.
A press release suggested Trump would indeed be part of the offering, stating it would allow traders to see “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts” ahead of others. The president has 12.9 million followers on the platform.
The release did not say how much customers would be charged.
In the past few months, Trump has announced decisions and musings on his platform including posts about the Iran war, tariffs and the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in U.S. cities. The Iran posts in particular are impactful because investors are worried that higher oil prices will continue to stoke inflation and possibly force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates.
The announcement comes as stock in Trump Media & Technology has plunged 70% since the president took office last year.
Trump Media said that it hopes start the service next month and that it has already signed up customers.
Bernard Condon, The Associated Press
