Rep. James Clyburn of South Carolina said President Trump stands to personally profit when Wall Street firms pay for early access to the same Truth Social posts he uses to announce major government actions, including military conflicts, accusing him of blatant corruption in a video posted to X.
“Trump’s media company is proposing that Wall Street firms pay $100,000 a month for privileged early access to Trump’s Truth Social posts, information they could then use to execute trades and profit before anyone else,” Clyburn wrote on X. “Once again, Trump is using the presidency to help himself and the rich get richer while ordinary people lose out. What’s new?”
In the accompanying video, Clyburn explained the arrangement in detail. “Unlike previous presidents, Trump uses Truth Social, which he owns, to announce official government actions,” Clyburn said. “When he announces new tariffs he’s launching, new wars he’s starting, or any number of other official actions, he often does so on Truth Social. These posts move financial markets, and Wall Street profits depend on how fast they can execute their trades. So what if you could pay $100,000 a month to get early access to these posts before ordinary users receive them? That is exactly what sources say Trump’s company is proposing.”
Clyburn argued the speed advantage, however small, is meaningful in financial markets. “Even if it is just seconds or less, that is enough time for Wall Street to place trades and make big profits, while ordinary Americans who own stocks and can’t afford the $100,000-per-month fee lose out,” Clyburn said. “This is as clear-cut corruption as it gets. I don’t care if you are a Republican, Democrat, Independent, this is wrong and everyone knows it.”
Trump Media & Technology Group, the Nasdaq-listed parent company of Truth Social, announced the product, called Truth API, in a press release filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on July 16 as an exhibit to a Form 8-K. The company described it as “a new business-to-business data feed that provides licensed, real-time access to posts from the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts,” set to launch for institutional customers Aug. 1. Interim CEO Kevin McGurn said in the filing that “markets already move on Truth Social posts” and that the product would help the company “monetize proprietary assets through a high-margin, recurring revenue stream.”
The company did not publicly disclose pricing in its official announcement, but the Financial Times and Reuters separately reported, citing people familiar with the matter, that Trump Media pitched the service to trading firms for up to $100,000 per month, or a discounted $60,000 per month for a three-year commitment. The Wall Street Journal reported that at least five firms had signed up for the service as of late July.
Trump has a substantial financial stake in the outcome. The Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, with Donald Trump Jr. as trustee, holds approximately 114.75 million shares of Trump Media, or roughly 41 percent of the company, according to SEC ownership filings.
Trump’s Truth Social posts have repeatedly coincided with market movements in specific stocks he has named. In June, Trump posted about Citigroup’s ranking in mergers-and-acquisitions advisory just as markets opened, and the stock outperformed other major bank shares that day. In April, Trump credited himself with helping Intel stock rise, and shares climbed 3 percent in the hours after his post. He similarly praised Palantir by ticker symbol during a difficult trading week for the company, and shares jumped within minutes. Beyond individual stocks, Trump’s posts about the Iran war have moved broader commodity markets as well, with his periodic updates on stop-and-start peace talks battering oil futures at times, leaving some traders on the losing side of million-dollar bets, according to the Warren-Schiff letter to the SEC.
Clyburn’s criticism aligns with a broader wave of congressional scrutiny. Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff sent a letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins on July 28 requesting an immediate investigation into whether the arrangement violates federal securities law, while Reps. Angie Craig and Ritchie Torres separately sent letters to the SEC and Justice Department raising similar concerns.
Trump Media has defended the product through spokespeople, describing it as simply the fastest way to access publicly available data and accusing critics of misunderstanding the distinction between public and nonpublic information.
Some Republican senators have also voiced discomfort with the arrangement, according to contemporaneous reporting, with Sen. Bill Cassidy describing it as “a form of buying access” and Sens. Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski and Thom Tillis expressing unease.
No formal SEC or Justice Department determination on the arrangement had been made public as of the most recent reporting, just days before the product’s planned Aug. 1 launch.