Trump Media Plans to Push President to Issue High-speed Toll Service, Wall Street Questions Legal Risks
Trump Media and Technology Group recently announced the launch of a new data service that provides users with millisecond-level high-speed access to posts from “top accounts” on the Truth Social platform. The subscription fee for the service is $100,000 per month, according to people familiar with the matter. This business plan quickly triggered a widespread backlash on Wall Street, with many financial institutions and legal experts questioning its potential legal risks. Trump's posts on Truth Social have long been seen as a key factor affecting stock, currency, commodity and bond market trends. In the context of current highly uncertain government policies, his remarks have repeatedly triggered violent market fluctuations. In the information presented to potential clients, Trump Media listed 10 presidential posts that have affected the market, including last year's "Liberation Day" statement that caused the stock market to plummet 12%, and his statement on "striking Iran" in June that drove oil prices soaring. Data also show that before Trump announced fruitful negotiations with Iran on March 23 and oil prices immediately plummeted, some investors had made large-scale bets in advance. Legal experts pointed out that the service may face multiple legal risks. Richard Painter, a professor of corporate law at the University of Minnesota and former White House ethics adviser, said that Trump holds about 1.1 billion U.S. dollars in shares of the company, and there are hidden dangers in using information generated in his official capacity for commercial operations. James Cox, a corporate law expert at Duke University, also believes that Trump and his White House colleagues "have no right to commercialize information generated by them in their public offices." But some lawyers said financial institutions that subscribe to the service may not violate federal rules, but state attorneys general may launch independent investigations into such behavior. This high-speed information source is most valuable to high-frequency trading firms, where a lead of just a few milliseconds can lead to significant profits. Some macro hedge fund executives said Trump's posts moved markets and funds may have had to subscribe out of a fiduciary duty to clients to avoid falling behind competitors. However, some people in the industry believe that this service only provides millisecond advantages and has limited competitive advantages for non-extremely fast trading strategies. Some crypto traders bluntly called this a "serious abuse of power." A spokesman for the Trump Media Group responded that the service provides "the fastest way to obtain publicly available Truth Social data" and that critics "invented a new theory of 'insider trading' based on public information out of thin air." The White House declined to comment. Since the service was announced, Trump has yet to publish a post on his Truth Social account with significant market impact.