NEW YORK: Donald Trump’s social media firm has mentioned charging Wall Road merchants and funding corporations as a lot as $100,000 a month for quicker entry to the US president’s posts on his Reality Social platform, in response to folks acquainted with the matter.
Trump Media & Know-how Group, which owns Reality Social, has in latest weeks additionally pitched a reduced plan of $60,000 monthly if the corporations join a three-year plan, the sources stated, requesting anonymity because the discussions are confidential.
TMTG on Thursday unveiled a paid-for, licensed knowledge feed known as “Reality API” to supply banks and buying and selling corporations the quickest entry to posts from the ten most influential Reality Social accounts, however didn’t give any pricing particulars.
The transfer could be the corporate’s first step into knowledge licensing, opening up a brand new income stream, though it drew quick criticism from Democrats.
US Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, stated it will financially profit the Trump household and “make Wall Road merchants wealthy.”
The White Home referred questions on Wyden’s remarks to TMTG, which didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
Trump’s social media posts usually transfer markets, and the income of many prime buying and selling corporations, hedge funds and monetary providers corporations rely closely on the pace at which they will execute trades.
On April 9, 2025, for instance, Wall Road’s predominant indexes turned sharply larger after Trump stated in a Reality Social submit that he would pause a lot of his new tariffs for 90 days.
Entry to the Reality API could be important for high-frequency buying and selling corporations as a pace benefit of only a few milliseconds may end up in tons of of hundreds of {dollars} of positive aspects on massive trades, the sources stated.
The Monetary Occasions reported the discussions on the $100,000 subscription payment earlier on Thursday.
PROFIT FROM POLICY ANNOUNCEMENTS
TMTG has confronted challenges in ramping up its media enterprise amid intense competitors from bigger social media corporations. The brand new product will present round the clock protection of influential posts and embrace an archive of posts relationship again to 2022. The corporate stated it has already signed up clients forward of the August 1 launch, however didn’t say who they’re.
A number of the most-followed accounts on Reality Social belong to Trump himself and people intently aligned with him, together with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, in addition to outstanding supporters similar to Dan Bongino and Sean Hannity.
The Donald J. Trump Revocable Belief holds roughly 114.75 million shares, representing about 41% of all excellent inventory in TMTG, in response to regulatory filings. The belief, which his youngsters oversee, administers Trump’s investments.
Critics have raised questions round whether or not Trump and his household have sought to spice up their fortunes by profiting off insurance policies introduced by his administration. In his most up-to-date monetary disclosures, Trump reported greater than $1.4 billion in revenue from his household’s crypto ventures final yr, after his revenue from digital property benefited from insurance policies he had introduced.
The Reality API association could be “wildly unethical,” stated Donald Sherman, president of the nonpartisan watchdog group Residents for Duty and Ethics in Washington, as a result of the president stands to profit from funds for quicker entry to his posts. Nonetheless, it’s tough to find out from publicly obtainable info whether or not it’s unlawful, he stated.
Sherman and different consultants be aware that the Structure’s emoluments clauses, designed to thwart corruption, wouldn’t apply on this case. They bar federal officers from accepting presents from international governments with out congressional approval, and the president from receiving presents from states.
And whereas federal rules, opens new tab broadly prohibit the shopping for or promoting of a safety based mostly on materials, personal info, that restriction wouldn’t apply if doubtlessly tons of or hundreds of individuals obtain earlier entry to his posts, Sherman stated.
“I do not suppose Congress or any regulatory physique ever contemplated {that a} president or a market-mover would interact in this type of paying-for-access kind association,” he stated.
US Senator Elizabeth Warren, the highest Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, stated it was “an egregious scheme to revenue off the presidency and enrich Wall Road whereas doing nothing to assist People.”
Whereas the White Home has stated Trump’s enterprise empire is overseen by his youngsters, the president is the beneficiary of the revenue that flows into his belief.
Shares of TMTG, which have shed roughly 27% of their worth this yr, closed roughly flat at $9.66 on Friday, giving the corporate a market worth of about $2.7 billion.
