Trump Media & Technology Group has unveiled a paid-for, licensed data feed named nbcnews.com, which gives banks and trading firms the fastest access to posts from influential Truth Social accounts, including President Donald Trump’s market-moving posts. The product will deliver posts from the 10 most influential accounts significantly faster than regular push notifications on the platform. The feed is tailored for organizations most impacted by delays in information, such as algorithmic trading firms. According to the company, firms have previously relied on manual monitoring to track influential Truth posts, but the new tool closes that gap.
Trump Media Launches Truth API for Fast Financial Access
The product provides round-the-clock coverage along with an archive of posts dating back to 2022. TMTG interim CEO Kevin McGurn stated that markets already move on Truth Social posts, and as adoption grows, the company expects the feed to become a meaningful, ongoing source of revenue. The launch marks TMTG’s first step into data licensing, opening up a new revenue stream as the company navigates challenges in scaling its media business against larger social media competitors. TMTG also noted that firms have been scraping Truth Social data for months in violation of the platform’s terms of service, and interim CEO Kevin McGurn added that the company intends to create friction for those not coming to them directly. TMTG confirmed it has already signed up customers ahead of an August 1 launch.
Ethical Concerns and Regulatory Scrutiny
The introduction of the paid data feed has drawn criticism and raised concerns regarding potential insider trading. Richard Painter, former chief ethics lawyer to President George W. Bush, told the BBC that even if the president does not trade himself on U.S. government information, liability could arise under tipper-tippee liability
laws if non-public government information is given to someone who pays for it and subsequently trades. Painter noted that this law would apply to sensitive subjects such as tariffs, wars, or other U.S. policy, and suggested that if he were commissioner of the SEC, he would threaten to resign unless the plan was stopped or government business posts were excluded.
Political opponents have also criticized the service. Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff wrote to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to ask if it would investigate whether Truth API breaks the law, describing the service as an outrageous abuse of the president’s office for personal benefit that enriches Wall Street and wealthy insiders while undermining everyday investors and market integrity. The SEC confirmed receipt of the letter but declined to comment on whether it would investigate. Meanwhile, Joe Saluzzi, co-founder of Themis Trading, pointed out that similar data services operated by other providers, news organizations, and stock exchanges provide a precedent for TMTG, though he added that ethics present a different story.
TMTG Response to Criticisms
A spokesperson for TMTG defended the product in response to the letter sent to the SEC, stating that Senate Democrats continue to mischaracterize Truth API due to ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and non-public information. TMTG maintained that the senators must have invented a new theory of insider trading based on publicly available information. President Trump, who owns about 41% of Trump Media through a trust overseen by his children, stands to profit from the service.
