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‘Brazen corruption’: critics denounce Trump Media plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts
Donald Trump's media company has announced plans to sell high-speed priority access to Truth Social posts, including possibly the president's own, through a new service called Truth PSI. Critics, including government ethics experts, have called the move "brazen corruption", warning it would let Wall Street trading firms and other institutions profit from seeing market-moving posts before the public, effectively allowing Trump to monetise his own official communications.
The service, announced on Thursday, would grant paying customers early sight of posts from "the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts", led by Trump himself with 12.9 million followers, followed by his sons Donald Jr and Eric. No pricing has been disclosed, and Trump Media & Technology Group declined to say whether Trump's own posts would be included. The announcement comes as TMTG stock has fallen more than 70% since Trump took office, wiping out roughly $6bn in shareholder value, even as Trump's personal financial disclosures show he earned over $1bn last year from related ventures; he retains a roughly 53% stake in the company, worth about $1.41bn.
In short
- Trump Media plans to sell early access to Truth Social posts
- Wall Street firms could profit by seeing posts before the public
- Ethics experts call the plan "brazen corruption" and self-enrichment
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Critics raise a genuine concern about conflict of interest: a sitting president monetising priority access to his own communications, potentially including market-moving statements, creates a troubling blur between official and personal financial interests. Allowing wealthy institutions to purchase early sight of presidential posts that could affect markets opens pathways to advantages resembling insider trading, undermining fair markets and public trust in the integrity of official communications.
The case against
Defenders observe this is a standard business service common across social media platforms—premium or tiered access to enhanced features. Without evidence of illegal conduct such as actual market manipulation, characterising ordinary business monetisation as corruption conflates private company practice with misconduct. If regulators identify specific violations, they possess tools to act; until then, this represents ordinary technology-sector business strategy that exists without equivalent scrutiny elsewhere in the industry.
Explained simply
Truth Social is a social media platform founded by Donald Trump after he was banned from Twitter, now known as X. Trump, who has recently returned to the presidency, is the platform's most-followed account. The platform is owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, in which Trump retains a majority stake worth approximately a billion dollars.
The company has announced a new service called Truth PSI that would sell early access to posts from the platform's most-followed accounts, potentially including Trump's own. The company has not confirmed whether Trump's own communications would be included in the scheme. Critics have warned that selling early access to market-moving statements from the president could allow financial firms to profit unfairly from information not yet publicly available.
The situation raises questions about whether a sitting president should be profiting from access to his own communications and whether officials should monetise statements that may relate to government business. It highlights broader concerns about conflicts of interest and whether such arrangements could undermine public trust in official communications.
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