Donald Trump’s social media company has discussed charging traders and investors up to $100,000 a month to gain faster access to the US president’s posts on his Truth Social platform, according to a report by the Financial Times.The Trump Media and Technology Group allegedly quoted the six-figure monthly sum in conversations with potential buyers of its “Truth API” data service.Private trading firms and hedge funds pay huge sums for ultra-fast data feeds because every millisecond counts when reacting to market-moving news. Trump often makes big announcements on Truth Social that cause huge swings in global markets.“People will pay because they have to,” a hedge fund executive told the Financial Times.
“If you are late for this news, you will be crushed.”
Trump’s posts move markets
Before the Trump administration halted a number of tariffs last year, Trump posted on Truth Social that it was a “great time to buy.” The S&P 500 rose 9.5 percent shortly after.He also backed specific stocks, praising companies like Nvidia and Apple and helping their stock prices. More recently, after the outbreak of war with Iran, Trump posted on March 23 that there had been “very good and productive talks with Iran,” which led to oil prices falling sharply.
Backlash from Wall Street
The announcement of the application programming interface (API) product sparked a backlash on Wall Street, where traders and investors did not prefer having to pay a company linked to the president for market-moving information.Social media platforms like X also provide data feeds to algorithmic traders through financial terminals like Bloomberg. TMTG expects the feed to provide coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week.The general public will not notice the difference in speed between the Truth API and updates on Truth Social itself because the Truth API will give a “millisecond” advantage to feed clients.“Milliseconds are a big deal in this world, and high-frequency trading firms and systematic quantitative hedge funds will definitely want this product,” the CEO of a US market infrastructure company told the Financial Times.