Technology and Scienceupdated 56m ago3 min read
Bloomberg, Susquehanna, and Jump Trading Pay for Faster Truth Social Access to Trump Posts
“A U.S. president using his influence to sell information via social media and generate profit is a move likely to spark conflict of interest controversies.”
“The deals likely mark the first time a business tied to a sitting president has sold access to their statements, which some critics have called unethical.”
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Bloomberg and two trading firms will pay up to $100,000 monthly for faster Truth Social posts. The paid API delivers posts with about a 50-millisecond edge.
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Paid fast access deal
Bloomberg and two Wall Street trading firms agreed to pay up to USD $100,000 per month for an API that delivers Donald Trump’s posts on Truth Social with a 50-millisecond edge, according to people familiar with the agreements cited by Reuters. Susquehanna International Group and Jump Trading agreed to the faster-access service, and the deals were described as the first reported purchase of Truth Social’s API by those firms. Trump Media and Technology Group promoted the faster-access product in July and told investors in August that it had signed more than 10 agreements, with monthly fees ranging from USD $60,000 to USD $100,000.
Trump Media said the API is an industry-standard product with substantial demand across all industries, and it said it takes the confidentiality of its customers seriously. Davis Ingle, a White House spokesperson, said that neither Trump nor his family are directly involved in investment decisions and added, "President Trump acts only in the best interest of all U.S. citizens".
Criticism and legal pressure
Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California asked the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service violates securities laws, and they described the initiative as a “shocking abuse” of office by a president seeking a personal benefit.
The SEC declined to comment on the request, and Trump Media rejected the criticisms while maintaining that the API is a standard industry product with demand across sectors.
Trump Media said, "Truth Social offers an industry-standard API product with substantial demand across all industries," and it said the report was based on misleading information spread by anonymous sources to harm the company, its clients and shareholders.
A lawsuit filed in August challenged the pricing model as potentially unconstitutional because it argues a financial hurdle for government information may be unconstitutional.
Intercept Media and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump in August seeking to block the White House from posting official government announcements exclusively on Truth Social while the paid feed exists, and the plaintiffs described the paid data service as “profoundly corrupt.”
Market edge and stakes
The service gives subscribers a timing advantage for Trump’s posts on Truth Social, and it was described as a 50-millisecond edge that can create swings in financial markets. The Straits Times said the service is designed to allow customers to read Trump’s posts more quickly than a human would by constantly checking the app, and it said high-frequency Wall Street traders use software that ingests news headlines, company announcements and government statements. The Straits Times also said the software can read, analyse and execute a trade in thousandths of a second, and it cited an example where oil futures sank after Trump announced on Truth Social a ceasefire in the Iran war in April.
Reuters said it would assess the service, but it had no current plans to subscribe, and Bloomberg, Jump Trading and Susquehanna declined to comment on the agreements attributed to them. The president’s family trust owns 41% of Trump Media, and the president’s family trust was described as owning 41% of Trump Media while Trump is the trust’s sole beneficiary.