Democratic senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have formally requested the U.S. securities regulator to investigate whether Trump Media’s plan to sell early access to President Donald Trump’s social media posts violates federal law.
The senators’ concerns, detailed in a letter reviewed by Reuters, center on potential abuses of office and market integrity.
Trump Media, known as TMTG, recently unveiled a paid, licensed data feed designed to offer trading firms “the fastest” access to posts from the ten most influential accounts on Truth Social, including those made by Trump.
In their July 28 letter to Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Paul Atkins, Warren and Schiff stated, “This appears to be an outrageous abuse of the President’s office for his personal benefit that undermines everyday investors and the integrity of our markets, while enriching Wall Street and other wealthy insiders.”
A spokesperson for the SEC and Chairman Atkins confirmed receipt of the letter but declined further comment. Atkins, a free-market Republican appointed to his role by Trump, is known for generally adopting a softer stance on enforcement.
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open image in galleryNeither TMTG nor the White House immediately responded to requests for comment regarding the allegations.
Early Truth Social access, for a price
The “Truth API” product, as it’s known, has reportedly been discussed with a potential price tag of up to $100,000 per month. Media outlets, including Reuters, have highlighted that Trump’s social media posts have historically influenced market movements. The profitability of numerous top trading firms, hedge funds, and financial services companies often hinges on the speed with which they can act on such news.
Trump, who holds approximately 41% of Trump Media through a trust overseen by his children, stands to directly benefit from this paid access model. The company has indicated it has already secured customers ahead of the product’s August 1 launch, though it has not disclosed their identities.
Warren and Schiff contend that the Truth API represents the latest instance of Donald Trump intertwining his personal business interests with presidential affairs, thereby raising significant ethical questions. They cited, for example, Donald Trump’s report last month of receiving over $1.4 billion last year from his family’s cryptocurrency projects.
While legal experts suggest that tech platforms are generally permitted to offer clients early data access, even if it creates a disadvantage for some market participants, ethics experts view the Truth API differently. They argue that Donald Trump’s posts constitute government information, which he has an obligation to disseminate publicly.
The senators also pointed to Donald Trump’s past use of Truth Social to endorse specific stocks, such as Citigroup, Intel, and Palantir. They warned that such actions heighten the risk of insider trading and erode investor confidence in the fairness and level playing field of the market.