Key facts
- Truth Social is launching a service to sell early access to Donald Trump's social media posts.
- The service, Truth API, is aimed at high-frequency traders who can profit from rapid information.
- Critics question the ethics of selling access to policy announcements made by the President.
- Trump's company defends the service as a capitalist endeavor and not insider information.
- Trump's posts have previously moved markets, including stocks, bonds, and currencies.
President Donald Trump's Truth Social business is set to begin selling fast access to his social media posts to Wall Street traders, a move that raises significant ethical questions and the prospect of substantial profits for his company. The service, dubbed Truth API, will offer traders a sneak peek of Trump's posts, which have historically moved markets on everything from policy changes to tariffs and central bank leadership.
Critics, including Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading, have voiced strong concerns, with Aldridge stating that if this were a public company CEO, it would be considered illegal. She highlighted that the President has access to all decisions and is disclosing information ahead of time to a select group. However, Trump's company, Trump Media & Technology Group, defended the service, attributing criticism to ideological opposition or a misunderstanding of public versus nonpublic information.
High-frequency traders, who specialize in executing trades within milliseconds, stand to benefit greatly from such timely information. Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading estimates that around 100 such firms might subscribe to the service, calling the information market-moving. The service is part of a broader trend of firms investing in faster data feeds. Trump's prolific posting, often involving policy reversals or threats, provides ample opportunities for traders to profit from price fluctuations.
Beyond policy announcements, Trump has also been posting about specific publicly traded companies, sometimes leading to stock price jumps. Dylan Hedler-Gaudette, an ethics expert, described this as "pimping of specific companies" and a "real mess." For instance, Palantir Technologies and Intel saw brief stock price increases after positive posts from Trump. The exact number of firms signing up for the $100,000 per month service is unclear, but even a few subscribers could significantly boost revenue for Trump Media, which has reported hundreds of millions in losses despite Trump's influence driving traffic to the platform.