US President Donald Trump’s paid social media service, Truth API, has found customers, with Bloomberg and two high-frequency trading firms paying for faster access to his posts. The service costs financial institutions up to $100,000 a month.Two sources with direct knowledge of the matter, cited by Reuters, said Susquehanna International Group and Jump Trading, both of which specialise in algorithmic and automated trading strategies, have also signed up for the service.The deals give subscribers a timing advantage over people who monitor Trump’s posts on the app themselves.The arrangement has raised concerns about the sale of faster access to statements by a sitting president, particularly because his posts can influence financial markets.It also comes as Trump Media and Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social, faces legal challenges over the paid service and questions about the potential use of presidential communications for commercial gain.
How Truth API works
Trump Media and Technology Group announced the faster-access product in July, pitching it to trading firms and other financial institutions. The service is designed to deliver Trump’s posts more quickly than a person could obtain them by repeatedly checking Truth Social.Trump Media officials have put the timing advantage at 50 milliseconds. For financial firms using automated trading systems, that difference can matter when a presidential statement triggers a change in asset prices.High-frequency traders rely on software to scan news headlines, company announcements and government statements for information that could move markets. Their systems can read and analyse the information before executing trades in thousandths of a second.The potential consequences of Trump’s social media posts were evident in April, when oil futures fell after he announced a ceasefire in the Iran war on Truth Social.An application programming interface, or API, acts as a digital bridge that allows one computer system to communicate with another. In this case, the product gives subscribers faster access to the president’s posts, which they can use in their trading or financial information systems.
Who is paying for the service?
According to a Reuters report, Bloomberg, Susquehanna International Group and Jump Trading are among the organisations that have signed up for Truth API.In August, Trump Media told investors it had “signed more than 10 customer agreements”. Reuters was unable to independently confirm that figure.The company did not identify its customers but said they were primarily Wall Street trading firms paying between $60,000 and $100,000 a month. The latest deals indicate that the product has attracted both financial trading firms and a news and data provider.Reuters, which competes with Bloomberg in financial news, said in a statement: “We will assess the service, but have no current plans to subscribe.”Trump Media defended the product in a statement, saying: “Truth Social offers an industry-standard API product for which there is significant demand across industries. We take customer confidentiality seriously. This reporting is based on misleading information being peddled by anonymous sources aimed at harming our company, customers and shareholders.”The company has not publicly named the subscribers in its August investor update, and the three firms named in the report declined to comment.
Why the paid feed has drawn criticism
The paid service has drawn criticism for giving subscribers faster access to a president’s statements, potentially offering financial firms an advantage when his posts move markets. The deals are likely the first time a business linked to a sitting president has sold access to his statements.In July, Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California asked the US Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service violated securities laws. They called it a “shocking abuse” of office by a president seeking personal gain.A Trump Media and Technology Group spokesperson said, “Congressional Democrats continue to mischaracterize Truth API either out of ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and nonpublic information.”In August, Intercept Media and the non-profit Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump, seeking to stop the White House from posting official government announcements exclusively on Truth Social. The ongoing lawsuit describes the service as “profoundly corrupt” and alleges violations of the First and Fifth Amendments.
Trump Media’s financial portfolio
The commercial arrangement has also drawn attention to the ownership of Trump Media. The president’s family trust owns 41% of the company, and Trump is the trust’s sole beneficiary.The Truth API deals come as Trump Media faces a steep decline in its stock market value.Shares of the company have fallen more than 50% so far this year. Its market value has also been volatile since it went public in March 2024.The company closed at a market value of about $8 billion on its debut in March 2024, but is now worth about $1.8 billion.Since 2024, Trump Media has lost about $1.76 billion, including non-cash charges.
