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Trump's Truth Social to sell early access to posts, sparking insider trading fears

From Liberty Times · () Chinese

Translated from Chinese, summarized and contextualized by DistantNews.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • Donald Trump's Truth Social platform is launching a paid service offering Wall Street traders early access to his posts.
  • The move aims to generate significant profits for Trump's company, but raises concerns about insider trading and leveraging public office for private gain.
  • Critics argue that providing this information early to a select group of high-frequency traders disadvantages ordinary investors.

Donald Trump's social media company, Truth Social, is now selling early access to his posts to Wall Street traders, a move that promises substantial profits but has ignited controversy over insider trading and the use of public office for personal gain.

If this were the CEO of a public company, this would be a jail offense.

— Irene AldridgeHead of Able Alpha Trading, commenting on the ethical concerns of the paid service.

The new paid service, dubbed "Truth API," offers Wall Street traders, particularly high-frequency trading firms, a subscription to receive Trump's posts before they are widely released. These firms, which profit from tiny price fluctuations in milliseconds, could benefit immensely from advance knowledge of Trump's pronouncements on market-moving issues like tariffs, Federal Reserve appointments, and policy changes.

We have a US president who is front row for all the actions, all the decisions, and he is leaking this information ahead of time to a select group.

— Irene AldridgeFurther elaborating on the ethical implications of the Truth Social service.

Critics, such as Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading, have voiced strong concerns. "If this were the CEO of a public company, this would be a jail offense," she stated, highlighting the ethical implications of a US president potentially leaking information to a select group. While Trump's media company, TMTG, defends the service by claiming it distinguishes between public and non-public information, critics like Joe Saluzzi, co-founder of Themis Trading, argue that the speed of access is the key differentiator, disadvantaging retail investors.

For the big guys, this is what they need.

— Joe SaluzziCo-founder of Themis Trading, estimating the number of high-frequency trading firms that might pay for the service.

The service comes as high-frequency trading firms invest heavily in data sources and servers to gain even millisecond advantages. Trump's tendency to break news on the platform, coupled with AI's ability to analyze market-moving content, creates a lucrative environment. The service will also include posts from other "high-level" Truth Social contributors, potentially including Trump's sons, Donald Jr. and Eric.

The people who buy the information and build the systems to process the information will be faster than you and I.

— Joe SaluzziCo-founder of Themis Trading, explaining how the service disadvantages retail investors.
DistantNews Editorial

Originally published by Liberty Times in Chinese. Translated, summarized, and contextualized by our editorial team with added local perspective. Read our editorial standards.

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