Trump’s paid early access to Truth Social posts launches. Here’s why officials are worried

Trump’s paid early access to Truth Social posts launches. Here’s why officials are worried With a prolific online presence, President Trump has a history of sending stocks, bonds, and currencies soaring or plunging with his online musings and threats - Bookmark - CommentsGo to comments Donald Trump’s social media platform, Truth Social, is poised to offer exclusive early access to his posts, a move that has ignited concerns over market manipulation and the potential for private gain from public influence. The service, launching Saturday, will provide Wall Street traders with sneak peeks of Trump's online pronouncements, raising questions about ethical boundaries and fair market practices. While similar high-speed data feeds are common among social media companies and news providers, Truth Social's offering stands apart. Unlike platforms that merely distribute information, President Trump's posts frequently create news, often rattling markets with policy shifts on issues ranging from international conflicts to central bank leadership and tariffs. The implications are stark, according to Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading, who stated her firm has no plans to subscribe. "If this was the CEO a public company, this would be jail time," Aldridge remarked. She added, "We have a President of the United States who has the front seat to all the action, who makes all the decisions, and he's disclosing this ahead of time to a select group." When questioned about the service's propriety and whether White House lawyers had reviewed it, President Trump’s press office declined to comment, directing inquiries to Truth Social’s publicly traded parent company. Trump Media & Technology subsequently issued a statement, criticizing Democratic detractors for mischaracterizing the service "out of ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and nonpublic information — or, quite possibly, both." With a prolific online presence, President Trump has a history of sending stocks, bonds, and currencies soaring or plunging with his online musings and threats. This volatility creates significant opportunities for so-called high-frequency traders, who specialize in exploiting minute, fleeting price differences through rapid buying and selling. Recent examples highlight the potential for profit. This month alone, President Trump has used Truth Social to threaten higher tariffs on Canada, to scuttle a nuclear deal with Saudi Arabia, and to expand the conflict in Iran. Traders with advance knowledge could have reaped substantial profits by betting on a fall in the Canadian dollar, a dip in nuclear energy stocks, or a surge in oil futures. Joe Saluzzi, co-founder of Themis Trading, estimates that approximately 100 high-frequency firms might be willing to pay for the service. "For the big guys, it’s going to be something they need," Saluzzi commented, describing it as "market-moving information." Dubbed Truth API, the service emerges as financial firms increasingly invest in direct feeds and servers that bypass slower internet connections, seeking immediate access to news and data. The potential for profit is further amplified by artificial intelligence's enhanced ability to accurately interpret posts and articles for market-moving changes, coupled with President Trump’s propensity for generating news online. Traders thrive on price fluctuations, and Trump, with his penchant for cliffhangers, threats, and policy reversals, provides an abundance of potentially market-moving content. America's first reality-TV president offers a unique source of volatility. Policy reversals are particularly lucrative, allowing traders to profit from both directions – anticipating stock movements up or down following a threatening post, cashing out in milliseconds, then betting the opposite way. Beyond President Trump, the service will also include posts from other "high ranking" Truth Social contributors, potentially including his heavily followed sons, Donald Jr. and Eric. Truth Social asserts that the information will be released simultaneously to traders and the general public, thereby negating concerns about fairness. However, Joe Saluzzi of Themis Trading, a critic of high-speed trading, dismisses this as a "red herring," arguing that the crucial factor is when posts are received, not when they are officially released. "Somebody who buys the info and has a system built to process it will be able to act quicker than you and me," Saluzzi explained, adding, "The loser is always the retail investor." Beyond policy scoops, another compelling reason to subscribe has emerged: President Trump has increasingly posted about publicly traded companies, praising those he favors in a manner that triggers buying frenzies. "The pimping of specific companies — obviously Wall Street would like to know that before other people," stated Dylan Hedler-Gaudette, a federal ethics rule expert at the watchdog Project on Government Oversight. "It's a real mess." In April, Palantir Technologies saw its stock briefly jump the most it had in a year, moments after President Trump praised the company in a post that included its stock symbol. Later that month, Intel’s stock immediately rose in after-hours trading following President Trump’s post, "Congratulations on Intel doing such a great job." The identities of firms subscribing to the feed remain undisclosed. Several prominent high-speed traders, including Citadel Securities and XTX Markets, declined to comment when asked. Should just three firms subscribe at the reported $ 100,000-a-month fee, that would double revenue at Trump Media, which reported taking in $3.7 million last year. The company is in need of such business. Stock in Truth Social’s parent company has plummeted 75% since President Trump took office last year, as the company continues to report hundreds of millions in losses, despite the president's efforts to drive traffic to its site by posting major decisions there. Indeed, President Trump breaks news on Truth Social so frequently that the White House press office often copies his posts into emails when responding to media inquiries about policy details. If his posts are not yet available, journalists are sometimes advised, "Wait for the Truth." A further challenge for Truth Social looms if Democrats gain control of Congress and initiate investigations, a prospect Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren specifically addressed in a Friday statement attacking the new service: "We will haul in those responsible for this open corruption to answer to the American people." Should the company’s losses continue to mount, some observers predict President Trump will further leverage the platform for policy announcements. "That’s absolutely going to happen," warned Craig Holman, a lobbyist for the good government group Public Citizen. "Trump knows how to sell products." 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