Paid Truth Social data feed draws market fairness warnings

Trump Media plans to sell faster access to Truth Social posts that may affect markets, a move securities law experts told Fortune could give paying investors an edge over the public. The planned Truth API arrives as the Securities and Exchange Commission weighs whether to let companies file financial reports twice a year instead of quarterly, raising questions about how much timely public information investors will receive.

Trump Media & Technology Group said Thursday that Truth API is scheduled to launch Aug. 1. Kevin McGurn, interim chief executive of TMTG, said in a company statement that markets already react to posts on Truth Social.

The company’s statement referred to access to top social posts, Fortune reported. It did not say whether President Donald Trump’s own posts would be part of the feed. Trump is Truth Social’s most followed user, with 12.9 million followers, and accounts belonging to Donald Trump Jr., Eric Trump and the White House also have several million followers, according to Fortune.

Experts warn of unequal access

Tyler Gellasch, chief executive of the Healthy Markets Association and a former SEC counsel, told Fortune that speed can matter in trading and that Trump’s social media posts can move markets. He said a paid data feed could leave a small set of investors with faster access to information than others, weakening the principle that investors should receive key information on fair terms.

Renée Jones, a Boston College Law School professor and former director of the SEC’s corporation finance division, told Fortune that the product may raise securities law concerns. She said the issue is sharper because Trump is the largest shareholder of Truth Social’s publicly traded parent company and would benefit from the platform’s revenue.

Jones told Fortune that material nonpublic information tied to the presidency should be treated as belonging to the U.S. government or the public, rather than to Truth Social or Trump personally. Her concern centers on whether presidential communications that may affect markets can be sold through a private company connected to the president.

SEC filing debate adds to concern

The SEC is considering whether companies should be allowed to move from quarterly financial reports to semiannual reporting, Fortune reported. The potential change would reduce the frequency of routine public filings that investors use to compare companies.

Chester Spatt, a Carnegie Mellon professor and former SEC chief economist, told Fortune that he is less concerned about semiannual reporting than the Truth Social feed. In his view, less frequent filings would still give all investors the same figures at the same time, while the Truth API could create a timing advantage for subscribers.

Jones told Fortune that the disclosure system is meant to keep investors on equal footing and that even a voluntary reduction in reporting could damage confidence. She compared the risk to the loss of trust after the Enron and WorldCom accounting scandals, when market confidence and share prices were hit.

Gellasch told Fortune he believes investors could gradually put more attention on markets with stronger disclosure rules, including in Europe, if U.S. rules become less protective of equal access to information. He warned that weaker confidence could erode a long-standing U.S. advantage in capital markets.

Profit and presidency questions

Spatt told Fortune that selling faster access to information is not new, citing services such as the Bloomberg Terminal. He said the more difficult issue is who would receive the money from this product, given Trump’s ownership ties to the media company.

Trump Media has posted losses, including a $405.9 million net loss in the first quarter of 2026, Fortune reported. Fortune also reported that Trump’s financial disclosures showed $2.2 billion in income in 2025, more than half of it tied to crypto assets.

Trump has used Truth Social for policy announcements and arguments that markets have watched closely. Fortune noted that he announced his “Liberation Day” tariffs on the platform and has used it to promote and defend his tariff agenda.

This story draws on original reporting from Fortune.