Wall Street traders are paying up to $100,000 a month for high-speed access to Donald Trump's social media posts on Truth Social. The Truth API service was launched at the start of August and costs $60,000 to $100,000 a month, or £45,000 to £75,000, handing traders early access to posts including major policy announcements by Trump.
Trump Media & Technology chief executive Kevin McGurn revealed that more than ten customers have already signed up to the service offering first sight of the most influential accounts on Truth Social, including Trump's own account. McGurn said early customers are mostly in high-frequency trading firms who can cash in on information gained just fractions of a second early through automated bets on subsequent moves in shares, bonds and currencies.
Donald Trump launched the Truth Social platform in 2022 after he was banned from other platforms. The paid-for service has been criticised amid claims it is a vehicle for Trump and his allies to profit from his presidency.
"[Trump is] selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president," Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law told the Associated Press last month. "It's yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself."
Commercial Data Practice
McGurn brushed aside these concerns about the feed. "Providing licensed real-time public data through commercial APIs is a well-established business practice across the technology, financial information and media industries," McGurn said. "This is no different."
McGurn added that the service could expand over time. "This can grow into a meaningful, durable contributor, but it's just one piece of a broader media technology strategy," he said.
Quarterly Loss and Business Pivot
The comments came as Trump Media posted a second quarter loss of £176million in the three months to the end of June. That was more than ten times the £15million it lost in the same period last year, as the company counted the cost of a slump in the value of cryptocurrency it owns.
The firm had branched out into businesses outside media, such as crypto, online betting, finance and nuclear energy. Trump Media said it would largely ditch many of the new ventures and refocus efforts on its social media mission and acting as a forum for users to post their views.
"We made the disciplined choice to pivot in order to invest more time and resources in our most important initiatives," McGurn said. "We will say no to things or change course as warranted."
McGurn confirmed Trump Media's nuclear fusion business would continue under the new strategy. The company aims to complete a previously-announced merger with energy company TAE Technologies by the end of 2026.
