SerpApi.Org
CNN anchor Dana Bash questioned the ethics of President Donald Trump’s media company selling premium access to Truth Social posts, asking on air whether the practice resembles insider trading as the company seeks new revenue streams.
Dana Bash calls out the Trump family
On an episode of Inside Politics, Bash introduced a report from CNN senior reporter Dave Goldman about Trump Media’s new service, which offers Wall Street firms faster access to posts published on Truth Social, including posts from the president and his oldest sons.
“President Trump’s media company is going to start selling Wall Street firms faster access to Truth Social posts, including the president and his sons’ [posts]. It appears to be yet another example of the Trump family profiting off of his presidency,” Bash said.
Goldman explained that the company is selling access to its application programming interface, or API, which allows trading firms to receive Truth Social posts almost instantly. He said the service is designed for high-speed trading systems that can execute transactions within milliseconds, potentially giving institutional investors an advantage over individual traders.
“Those are the kind of machines that really make money on Wall Street. And when we’re talking about high speed, we’re talking about milliseconds, right? And those milliseconds can make millions of dollars for Wall Street firms and really put retail investors like you and me at a disadvantage,” he explained. “Now, we know that President Trump makes news and really announces policies — often before his own administration knows that it’s coming — on Truth Social. And so by selling instant access to that, Wall Street can make more money by buying or selling, depending on what President Trump is saying.”
“Now, the company has a statement about this. It says that until now, ‘no official integrated API has existed and firms that prioritize tracking influential Truth posts have relied on manual monitoring.’ That’s crucial. ‘Truth API closes the gap for organizations that place a premium on immediate, verified access to information.’ So basically, this is the company saying, ‘Yes, we acknowledge that people are buying and selling stocks based on what the president says on Truth Social. And now we’re going to sell even faster access to it so that the company can make money,’” Goldman said.
‘How is this not insider trading?’
Reacting to the explanation, Bash asked, “I think this is one of those moments where I have to ask you the bottom line question that probably everybody watching is asking: How is this not insider trading?”
Goldman responded that the practice is legal and not unique to Truth Social, noting that platforms such as X and Meta also provide high-speed access to their data. However, he emphasized that Trump’s ownership stake in Trump Media creates a distinct dynamic because the president frequently announces policy decisions on the platform.
“Yeah, it’s legal. And this isn’t the only company that’s doing this. X, owned by Elon Musk, and Meta, others either offer for free or sell high-speed access to the data that’s available on their platforms. But here’s the key: President Trump owns the platform that he’s making news on. And so by selling access to it, he is thereby making money. Remember, he owns 41% of the parent company, Trump Media, which owns Truth Social. And the company could use some money, Dana, because it only made $3 million in ad revenue last year. It lost, get this, $711 million in operating losses. This is not a profitable company, and they’re looking for ways to make some money,” Goldman said.
