Trump Media and Technology has officially launched its Truth PSI (Premium Speed Information) service on August 1, providing financial services companies with millisecond access to posts from the platform's 10 most-followed accounts for a fee-based arrangement. According to Financial Times, the company has discussed charging traders and investors as much as $100,000 a month for premium access through a new product called Truth API. The service allows financial institutions to access data from high-profile accounts whose posts can influence policy and financial markets, including US President Donald Trump, the White House, FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The API launch addresses a significant market gap, as Mcgurn noted that several firms have been scraping Truth Social data for months, often in breach of the platform's terms of service, and reselling the information to institutional clients. For most users, seeing a social media post a few seconds later is inconsequential, but for hedge funds and high-frequency trading firms, those few seconds can determine whether a trade makes or loses millions.
This marks the media business's first step towards its foray into licensing, as confirmed by Mcgurn to Reuters. The initiative represents a significant milestone for Trump Media and Technology's diversification strategy beyond traditional advertising revenue. The company has already secured customers ahead of the launch, including financial news organizations and high-frequency trading firms, though Mcgurn did not disclose their names. According to the reports, this development represents a strategic move by Trump Media and Technology to monetize its platform's user data and engagement metrics through the financial services sector. Mcgurn, a former executive at Shazam, Hulu, Vevo and T-Mobile, has spent much of his career leading revenue and growth strategies for mostly media and tech firms. "Markets already move on Truth Social posts ... As adoption grows, we expect Truth API to become a meaningful, ongoing source of revenue for the company," TMTG's interim CEO Kevin McGurn stated to Reuters. This move is the first step the company has taken towards data licensing, opening up a new revenue stream for Trump Media Technology, which has been facing challenges to scale up its business amid strong competition from much larger social media firms like Meta and X.
President Trump's 12.9 million-follower account gives the paid feed its main market appeal, as Trump regularly uses the platform to announce or discuss tariffs, foreign policy, government decisions, and other matters watched by financial markets. According to Trump Media, the Truth PSI will provide "immediate, verified access" to posts published on the platform, with subscribers receiving what the company describes as "milliseconds" of access to time-sensitive information. Trump's family also remains financially connected to the company, with SEC filings showing that about 114 million Trump Media shares issued to the president were later moved into a revocable trust controlled by Donald Trump Jr. after Trump won the presidency. The company expects the service to generate recurring revenue outside its advertising and subscription businesses, similar to how other social media companies already charge data providers and institutional clients for API access. A number of announcements of significant consequence have been made by Trump through his Truth Social handle, including his "Liberation Day" tariffs and those on trade restrictions on China, making the platform an important feed for traders, financial institutions, and businesses. On April 9, 2025, the main indices of Wall Street turned sharply higher when Trump announced on Truth Social that he would be pausing a large part of his new tariffs for a period of 90 days.
The Truth PSI launch has raised significant ethical concerns about potential conflicts of interest. Kathleen Clark of Washington University School of Law, an expert in government conflicts of interest rules, criticized the arrangement, stating "It's yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself." Clark noted that "He's selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president," as the biggest shareholder of the public traded parent company would directly benefit. The Trump family company declined to comment on the ethical concerns. Virginia Canter, an ethics attorney with Democracy Defenders Fund, had previously criticized the arrangement, stating "It's a huge conflict of interest. The president has an obligation to the American people to convey information to them publicly, and he's now funneling it through a private channel in which he has a private interest as one of its largest shareholders." Canter noted that "Truth Social has become the de facto presidential press room," as the platform has other large users besides the president, but few who can provide consistent market-moving information. Trump's son Donald Trump Jr. has 7.4 million followers, while Eric Trump has 3.3 million, and former Deputy FBI Director Dan Bongino has 3.5 million followers. Trump's 2025 financial disclosure also reported about $1.4 billion in crypto-related earnings, adding to scrutiny of his family's business interests while his administration shapes digital asset policy. By selling licensed access to presidential posts, Trump Media is now placing those communications inside a data market already used by financial firms to identify trading signals. Senator Ron Wyden, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, has slammed the move, stating it would financially benefit the Trump family and "make Wall Street traders rich," as reported by Reuters. Despite the criticism, Dynamis law firm partner Robert Frenchman said tiering access does not break federal securities law, though he noted the practice still creates uneven odds for smaller traders.
The Truth PSI announcement comes as stock in Trump Media & Technology has plunged 70 per cent since the president took office last year, according to Business Standard. The company hopes to start the service next month and has already signed up customers ahead of the launch. The service is designed to allow traders to see "the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts" ahead of others, with the press release suggesting Trump would indeed be part of the offering. In the past few months, Trump has announced decisions and musings on his platform including posts about the Iran war, tariffs and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement crackdown in US cities. The Iran posts in particular are impactful because investors are worried that higher oil prices will continue to stoke inflation and possibly force the Federal Reserve to raise interest rates. The company expects the service to generate recurring revenue outside its advertising and subscription businesses, similar to how other social media companies already charge data providers and institutional clients for API access. Wall Street already pays heavily for faster access to information, with trading firms spending millions on premium market-data feeds, low-latency news services and exchange co-location to shave milliseconds off execution times. The Truth API extends this model beyond financial data to political communication, effectively packaging political information as a premium financial product.
