Want to read Trump's posts first? That'll cost you

"Want to read the president's posts faster? Pay up."

The social media posts of Donald Trump — whose pronouncements routinely rattle global diplomatic order and financial markets — are now being packaged as a premium, ultra-low-latency data product aimed at financial institutions.

Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), the publicly listed company that operates Trump's Truth Social platform, said Thursday it will begin selling "Truth API," an ultra-low-latency data feed for corporate customers, starting Aug. 1.

The premise of the paid service is straightforward: subscribing financial firms will receive posts from Trump and other key White House figures milliseconds — up to one-thousandth of a second — before they appear on the screens of the general public. TMTG added that it has already signed preliminary supply agreements with some institutional investors.

The product is designed for algorithmic traders and high-frequency trading (HFT) firms, for whom a split-second advantage can mean the difference of hundreds of millions of dollars. Subscribers will be able to feed the data directly into automated systems for instant analysis and trade execution, eliminating the need to manually monitor the president's social media accounts.

Platforms such as X (formerly Twitter) and Reddit have long offered similar paid API services, but this product has drawn sharp conflict-of-interest criticism for one reason: the source of the information is a sitting US president.

Trump has repeatedly used Truth Social — rather than official government briefing channels — to make surprise announcements on major policy decisions and national affairs. Messages he posted during the Iran war situation last February moved international oil prices and equity markets.

The revenue model leans heavily on the influence of Trump and his inner circle. Trump himself is Truth Social's most-followed account, with about 12.9 million followers, followed by his eldest son Donald Trump Jr. (7.4 million), Vice President JD Vance (3.5 million), his second son Eric Trump (3.3 million), and FBI Director Kash Patel (1.9 million) — all key figures in the administration. Trump holds roughly 41 percent of TMTG through a revocable trust, giving him effective control and a direct financial stake in the company.

The Wall Street Journal sharply criticized the move, saying Trump's media company "now wants traders and investors to pay for immediate access to his posts" and calling it "the latest example of the president's family mixing private business interests with White House duties."

Meanwhile, despite the commercialization announcement, shares of Nasdaq-listed TMTG fell 3 percent Thursday to $9.28 — down roughly 77 percent since Trump returned to the White House in January last year.