Trump Media to sell instant access to 'market-moving' social posts

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Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social, is launching a paid service to give Wall Street firms high-speed access to its most influential posts.

From 1 August, instant updates will be delivered from "the highest-ranking" accounts, it said. US President Donald Trump currently has the most followers on the platform.

The company behind the app hopes it will create a steady new source of money for the firm which is currently loss-making.

It is likely to be aimed at financial traders who want to see market-moving news fast. Trump’s social media posts often cause sudden swings in global markets, especially when he writes about trade and tariffs.

For firms, a delay of even seconds can be costly. Until now, banks and traders had to monitor the app manually. The new system will send posts directly to paying clients.

"Markets already move on Truth Social posts," said Kevin McGurn, the interim boss of Trump Media, adding that the service will create a steady profit.

Trump Media did not say how much it would charge for the service.

The new commercial data feed, named Truth API, promises to deliver posts to paying institutional clients in "milliseconds".

The service will run 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

The company, which launched its social media app in 2022, said some firms have been copying its data for months without permission.

McGurn warned that Trump Media will soon block these methods, forcing firms to buy the official feed instead.

Trump could benefit substantially from the move. Since his family remains the majority shareholder in the company, the president stands to profit directly from selling expedited access to his own public statements.

The BBC has contacted Trump Media for comment on whether or not the president's posts will be included in the paid feed. The White House declined to comment.

While other social media networks already sell data, the move highlights the unique overlap between Trump’s private businesses and his public role as president.

It would be "unprecedented" if the feature did include the president's posts, said Mark Spiegel, an investment expert from Stanphyl Capital Management.

Companies that trade off the latest headlines would be "at a disadvantage" if they did not pay for quick access as they could miss out on posts that could move markets, Spiegel said.

"But to put this in context, remember that Trump's posts constitute just a tiny fraction of what moves markets," he added.

Robert Frenchman, a partner at US law firm Dynamis, told Reuters: "It certainly does not seem fair, but yes, a tech platform can tier its distribution of information without violating federal securities laws."

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