‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts

Donald Trump holding up a printout of a Truth Social post this month. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesView image in fullscreenDonald Trump holding up a printout of a Truth Social post this month. Photograph: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty ImagesDonald Trump‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social postsMove would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to potentially profit from seeing president’s posts first

Donald Trump’s media company is planning to charge for special high-speed access to Truth Social posts, including possibly his own, affecting national security and financial markets.

The move announced on Thursday would allow Wall Street trading firms and other institutions to get news first from top Truth Social contributors so they could profit off subsequent moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates.

Called Truth PSI, the new service comes amid a flurry of other deals by Trump and his family company that critics say are exploiting the presidency for profit.

It follows similar offers of paid access on rival platforms, although with one key difference: the most popular Truth Social poster is the president himself, and, as the biggest shareholder of the publicly traded parent company, he would benefit directly.

“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law and an expert in government conflict of interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”

Followers of Trump can already choose to get push notifications alerting them when new posts have been published.

The Trump family company declined to comment about whether the new feature was profiting off the presidency. Truth Social’s public parent, Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), did not respond to emailed questions by Associated Press, including whether Trump’s posts would be excluded from the offering.

A press release states the new service would allow traders to see “the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts” before other people. The US president has the most followers – 12.9 million – followed by his eldest son, Donald Jr, and, close behind, his son Eric.

Trump regularly uses Truth Social to announce major decisions that affect markets, such as posts about the Iran war and tariffs.

Last year Trump made more than 100 posts in a single day as global stock markets fell sharply amid fears his economic policies could produce a “Trumpcession” in the US.

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.