President Donald Trump’s company charges mostly high-frequency trading firms up to $100,000 a month to receive his market-moving posts directly on their computers. Trump writes the announcements, his company collects the fees, and paying traders can act before ordinary investors notice the same public posts.
The posts become public for everyone at the same time. What the firms buy is faster delivery and automated detection, not advance access to an unpublished message. For a machine that trades in milliseconds, that distinction leaves the advantage intact.
Timeline
- April 9, 2025, Trump announced a pause on many tariffs; the S&P 500 rose 9.5% that day, according to a later San Francisco lawsuit.
- May 23, 2025, Trump posted that he no longer opposed Nippon Steel’s proposed investment in U.S. Steel; the lawsuit cites a subsequent jump in U.S. Steel shares.
- July 2026, Trump Media announced Truth API, a paid feed for posts from prominent Truth Social accounts.
- August 1, 2026, Truth API launched.
- August 12, 2026, The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump and White House officials in federal court.
- August 31, 2026, The press plaintiffs sought an order blocking preferential access.
- September 21, 2026, San Francisco sued Trump Media in state court; 53 former federal prosecutors and agents submitted a proposed brief in the federal case.
- October 7, 2026, A Manhattan federal court is scheduled to hear the press plaintiffs’ request.
The price of a few milliseconds
Truth API is an application programming interface: a direct feed software can read without waiting for a person to spot a post on a screen. It carries posts from Truth Social’s top accounts, not only Trump’s. Trump Media’s interim CEO Kevin McGurn told investors the company had signed more than 10 agreements, mostly with high-frequency trading firms, generally priced at $60,000 to $100,000 a month. Trump Media has not named them.
Trump Media’s defence is that the posts are public. McGurn said customers receive published posts “fractionally faster”. That is precisely the product: a trading program can read the direct feed and place an order while a human investor is still finding out what the president said.
The value of speed depends on the size of the news. San Francisco’s complaint points to Trump’s April 2025 tariff-pause announcement and the S&P 500’s 9.5% rise that day. It also cites his May post about Nippon Steel’s proposed $14 billion investment, after which U.S. Steel shares rose from $42.90 to $52.55. That is a $9.65 move per share.
“Milliseconds make a difference,” Richard Painter, a University of Minnesota law professor and former White House ethics lawyer who was not involved with the product, told CBS News.
Trump’s interest is financial as well as political. He holds a 41% beneficial stake in Trump Media, worth about $1 billion according to FactSet; the shares sit in a trust controlled by Donald Trump Jr. Jessica Tillipman, associate dean at George Washington University Law School, who was not involved with the product or lawsuits, put the conflict plainly:
“The structure gives the president a personal financial interest in the market impact of his own official statements.”
Trump Media reported just $1.67 million in second-quarter revenue and a $238 million loss. McGurn says API revenue so far is modest.
Two lawsuits, different claims
San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu sued Trump Media in state court on September 21, alleging that the paid feed creates an insider-trading marketplace. Trump was not named as a defendant. Chiu described the bargain this way:
“This scheme turns the public trust into private profit.”
The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation are pursuing a different case. They sued Trump and White House officials in August, arguing that preferential delivery of official statements violates First and Fifth Amendment protections. Their requested injunction would stop officials from using Truth Social to post in a way that lets Trump profit from faster access. The Electronic Frontier Foundation filed a brief supporting the plaintiffs, arguing that eventual public availability does not erase a delay in timely access.
A proposed brief signed by 53 former federal prosecutors and agents argues the arrangement may implicate securities and public-corruption laws.
Members of Congress have pressed federal regulators too: Representative Ritchie Torres asked the SEC to investigate, while Senator Mark Warner introduced a bill aimed at special access to market-moving posts by government employees. The Justice Department is defending the government in the press plaintiffs’ case. The SEC has brought no enforcement action, and no one has been charged.
This is a president’s company selling speed on the president’s own announcements. Paying firms get the quicker machine-readable feed; everyone else gets the public post. The October 7 hearing will test whether that difference can continue while the federal case proceeds.
Further Reading
- Trump Media has struggled to grow. Now it’s selling $100,000 contracts for access to Truth Social., Product details, pricing, ownership and the company’s defence.
- Trump Media says Wall Street firms paying up to $100K for early access to Trump Truth Social posts, Reporting on the earnings call and trading-speed advantage.
- Trump’s Truth Social charges $100K a month to see his posts early. SF says that’s illegal, San Francisco’s lawsuit and its market-move examples.
- Nearly a dozen firms are paying up to $100,000 per month for early access to Truth Social posts, Expert reactions and the request for an SEC investigation.
- Ex-federal prosecutors say Trump media company’s scheme to sell early access to Truth Social posts is likely criminal, The former officials’ proposed brief and hearing date.
- FPF seeks order to stop Trump from monetizing official statements, The press plaintiffs’ account of their lawsuit and injunction request.
- EFF to Court: Trump’s Use of Truth Social’s Pay-To-See-Posts-First Scheme Violates Americans’ 1st Amendment Equal Access Rights, EFF’s argument for equal timely access.
- Trump sued over service selling faster access to Truth Social posts, Independent reporting on the press case and Trump Media’s response.