Trump Media weighs six-figure monthly charge for early look at president’s posts

Donald Trump’s media firm is said to be weighing a US$100,000-a-month charge that would give paying clients first sight of his social media messages. Critics argue the plan would wall off information the public needs and let the US president cash in on his office.

Reuters reported on Friday that Trump Media and Technology Group — the parent of Truth Social — has talked with financial traders and companies about steep payments for earlier delivery of Trump’s posts. A discounted rate of US$60,000 monthly for clients locking in a three-year contract was also said to have been floated. The Financial Times carried matching accounts.

Leading the world’s largest economy, Trump can shift markets with what he says. Economists note that his online comments on tariffs, foreign clashes and other policy moves can reshape global financial outlooks almost overnight.

Opposition to the proposed Truth Social charges arrived quickly. Trump has faced sustained criticism for mixing public authority with private gain, and ethics specialists warned that such fees would undermine American democratic norms. Kathleen Clark, who studies conflict-of-interest rules at Washington University School of Law, told The Associated Press: “He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president.” She added: “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”

Social media has been central to how Trump governs. In his first presidency he posted heavily on Twitter, later rebranded X. After platforms barred him over false assertions about the 2020 election and the January 6, 2021 assault on the US Capitol, he put money into his own media venture. He holds a majority stake in Trump Media and Technology Group. Truth Social is among its flagship offerings, and since leaving Twitter in 2021 he has relied on it almost alone — using it to trumpet everything from strikes on Iran to shifts in trade rules.

While the United States and Israel fought Iran, Trump’s Truth Social messages repeatedly jolted world energy prices after Tehran shut the Strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping. On April 9, 2025, a post signalling a 90-day halt on fresh tariffs likewise sent financial indexes climbing.

On Thursday, Trump Media and Technology Group said it would sell banks and trading houses a licensed product called Truth API — a paid data feed giving them preferential access to the site’s 10 most watched accounts, with Trump’s far ahead of the rest. Democratic politicians condemned the move. Senator Ron Wyden charged that it would “make Wall Street traders rich” as well as the Trump family.