Trump Media cashes in on high-speed access to social media posts

Trump Media and Technology Group on Monday reported that revenue surged 205% in the third quarter, which it says was “primarily driven” by selling a high-speed feed of posts on Truth Social.

The “Truth API,” as the company calls it, allows news organizations, Wall Street trading firms and other services to pay between $60,000 and $100,000 per month for a direct feed of posts on the social network. Critics have slammed the feed as an attempt to profit from President Donald Trump’s posts.

Trump, whose revocable trust is the largest single shareholder of Trump Media, is the most prominent user of Truth Social.

The president’s trust owns more than 41% of Trump Media, according to S&P Capital IQ data. In a June SEC filing, the trust said that Donald Trump Jr. was “the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power” over its holdings.

Trump Media’s stock, which trades under the symbol “DJT” for the president’s initials, closed at $4.06 on Monday, giving it a market valuation of $1.13 billion. It’s down 69% so far this year.

In July, Trump Media announced the high-speed feed offering, saying that it would allow “real-time access to posts from the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts.”

The company acknowledged that the service could be market-moving and highly valuable to any trading firm. “Markets already move on Truth Social posts,” Kevin McGurn, interim CEO of Trump Media, said at the time. He added that “high frequency and algorithmic trading firms that require a low-latency, machine-readable feed rather than manual tracking” could benefit from paying for the feed.

In August, the company said the service had gone live.

Last month, Reuters reported that Bloomberg and two Wall Street trading firms were some of the customers who had signed up for the service. Bloomberg declined to comment to NBC News in October, while the other two firms named did not return a request for comment at the time.

Top Democratic lawmakers, Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Sen. Adam Schiff of California, said the Truth Social feed amounts to “an outrageous abuse of the President’s office for his personal benefit.” In July, the senators asked the Securities and Exchange Commission to “determine whether the proposed arrangement would violate applicable federal securities laws.”

Trump was asked on Sunday if he was using the presidency to enrich himself.

“I devote almost no time to my net worth,” Trump told CBS’ “60 Minutes” in an interview. “I have a lotta money, and far more than I ever thought I’d have. And I guess it’s gone up. I don’t even know.”

Trump said his son “watches over” his money, adding: “I don’t even talk to him about it.”

Trump’s personal finances differ vastly from presidents of recent years. In June, Trump’s most recent annual personal financial disclosure spanned more than 900 pages. By comparison, President Barack Obama’s final disclosure form was eight pages, while President Joe Biden’s was 11. Vice President JD Vance’s form for last year is 17 pages.

Trump’s disclosure shows billions of dollars in earnings tied to cryptocurrencies, media settlements, and vast personal investments in stocks and bonds.

The White House has repeatedly insisted that “neither the President nor his family has ever engaged — or will ever engage — in conflicts of interest.”