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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 on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news from top Truth Social contributors in milliseconds so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.
Called Truth PSI, the new service comes amid a flurry of other deals by Trump and his family company that critics say are exploiting the presidency for profit.
It follows similar offers of paid access on rival platforms, although with one key difference: the most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself, and, as the biggest shareholder of the publicly traded parent company, he would benefit directly.
“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflict of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”
Followers of Trump can already choose to get push notifications alerting them when new posts have been published.
The Trump family company declined to comment about whether the new feature was profiting off the presidency. Truth Social’s public parent, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), did not respond to emailed questions by Associated Press, including whether Trump’s posts would be excluded from the offering.
A press release states the new service would allow traders to see “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts” before other people. The US president has the most followers – ۱۲.۹ million – followed by his eldest son, Donald Jr, and, close behind, his son Eric.
The release did not say how much customers would be charged.
Trump regularly uses Truth Social to announce major decisions that affect markets, such as posts about the Iran war and tariffs.
Last year Trump made more than ۱۰۰ posts in a single day as global stock markets fell sharply amid fears his economic policies could produce a “Trumpcession” in the US.
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.
Stock in TMTG has plunged more than ۷۰% since the president took office last year, erasing $۶bn (£۴.۴bn) in shareholder wealth.
Those losses, along with billions more of investor losses tied to new Trump family crypto businesses, have drawn scrutiny after Trump’s annual disclosure of his financial holdings shows he took in more than $۱bn in revenue last year in the same companies and offerings.
Trump launched TMTG in ۲۰۲۱ after Meta’s Facebook and X banned him for apparently encouraging his supporters to participate in the ۶ January attack on the US Capitol.
He went on to launch Truth Social in February ۲۰۲۲ and two years later floated the business – trading under the ticker symbol “DJT” – Trump’s initials – at an initial valuation of $۸bn.
Trump indirectly owns about ۵۳% of TMTG through shares he transferred to a trust in December ۲۰۲۴, a month before he took office, giving him a paper fortune of about $۱.۴۱bn based on TMTG’s current $۲.۶۷bn market capitalisation.
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The US president earned $۲.۲bn in total in his first year back in office, according to a mandatory disclosure with the US Office of Government Ethics.
About $۱.۴bn of his revenue came from his cryptocurrency business, including $۵۰۰m from the World Liberty Financial venture he co-founded with his sons and the sons of Steve Witkoff, his special envoy.
Trump also earned about $۵۰۰m after an investment firm tied to the United Arab Emirates bought almost half of the company in a controversial deal.
Conflict of interest laws would bar US government officials from owning a company that profited off their office by selling access to their decisions through public posts, Clark said. However, the president and vice-president, she notes, are excluded from the provision.
Despite that, all presidents since the law was passed decades ago have acted as if it applied – selling individual stocks, dumping business holdings or putting their financial assets in a blind trust so they would not know what was being bought and sold on their behalf while they wielded power – but Trump has refused.
Trump Media has been trying to lift its stock price recently by branching into various businesses, including cryptocurrency, financial services and even nuclear fusion. It recently replaced its longtime chief executive, Devin Nunes, a former congressman, with a seasoned media executive, Kevin McGurn.
In the release, McGurn described the Truth PSI move as part of a “strategy to monetise proprietary assets”. He added that he expected it to become a “meaningful, ongoing source of revenue”.
Trump Media said it plans to start the service next month and has already signed up customers.
The company’s stock rose ۰.۶% to $۹.۶۳ on Thursday. Before Trump took office last year, it closed at $۴۰.
Associated Press contributed to this report
