Kevin Dietsch | Getty Photos
Donald Trump’s social media firm has mentioned charging Wall Avenue merchants and funding companies as a lot as $100,000 a month for quicker entry to the U.S. president’s posts on his Reality Social platform, in line with folks conversant in 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 companies 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 companies the quickest entry to posts from the ten most influential Reality Social accounts, however didn’t give any pricing particulars.
The transfer can be the corporate’s first step into knowledge licensing, opening up a brand new income stream, though it drew fast criticism from Democrats.
U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon, the highest-ranking Democrat on the Senate Finance Committee, stated it might financially profit the Trump household and “make Wall Avenue 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 typically transfer markets, and the earnings of many high buying and selling companies, hedge funds and monetary providers companies rely closely on the velocity at which they’ll execute trades.
On April 9, 2025, for instance, Wall Avenue’s principal indexes turned sharply larger after Trump stated in a Reality Social submit that he would pause lots of his new tariffs for 90 days.
Entry to the Reality API can be important for high-frequency buying and selling companies as a velocity benefit of only a few milliseconds may end up in tons of of hundreds of {dollars} of positive factors on large trades, the sources stated.
The Monetary Instances reported the discussions on the $100,000 subscription charge earlier on Thursday.
Revenue from coverage bulletins
TMTG has confronted challenges in ramping up its media enterprise amid intense competitors from bigger social media companies. The brand new product will present round the clock protection of influential posts and embody an archive of posts courting 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 few of the most-followed accounts on Reality Social belong to Trump himself and people carefully aligned with him, together with his sons Donald Trump Jr. and Eric Trump, in addition to outstanding supporters akin 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 line with regulatory filings. The belief, which his kids 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 earnings from his household’s crypto ventures final yr, after his earnings from digital belongings benefited from insurance policies he had introduced.
The Reality API association can be “wildly unethical,” stated Donald Sherman, president of the nonpartisan watchdog group Residents for Accountability and Ethics in Washington, as a result of the president stands to profit from funds for quicker entry to his posts. Nevertheless, it’s tough to find out from publicly accessible data whether or not it is prohibited, he stated.
Sherman and different specialists notice 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 broadly prohibit the shopping for or promoting of a safety primarily based on materials, personal data, 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 sort of paying-for-access sort association,” he stated.
U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, the highest Democrat on the Senate Banking Committee, stated it was “an egregious scheme to revenue off the presidency and enrich Wall Avenue whereas doing nothing to assist Individuals.”
Whereas the White Home has stated Trump’s enterprise empire is overseen by his kids, the president is the beneficiary of the earnings 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.
