Trump Media turns Trump's posts into gold: $1 million for early access to Truth Social
The media structure of the former US president has found an unexpected source of monetization: selling privileged access to Donald Trump's posts on Truth Social has already brought the company over $1 million. These are confirmed figures that make you take a fresh look at Trump Media's business model.
The essence of the scheme is simple and cynical: subscribers to the Truth API service get lightning-fast access to posts by Trump and other top accounts on the platform — long before the information becomes public. For this pleasure, high-frequency traders pay from $60,000 to $100,000 per month. And, apparently, there is demand: more than 10 companies have already signed up, providing a total revenue of around $1 million.
The mechanics of Truth API
The service was launched in early August. Essentially, it is API access to the post feed of the most influential Truth Social accounts, including Trump himself. Interim CEO Kevin McGern called the project an "early stage" during the first quarterly report, but its potential is already obvious. The company is actively negotiating with AI developers, and a separate tariff is being prepared for private traders.
The key value of the product is speed. In a world where every Trump tweet can move markets, milliseconds decide everything. Those who pay get information before the crowd — and this turns political statements into a trading tool.
Reaction from regulators and politicians
Unsurprisingly, this approach has sparked a wave of criticism. Lawmakers, including Congressman Jamie Raskin, are demanding the full list of service subscribers be disclosed. Democrats are insisting on an official investigation by the SEC, seeing potential violations in the sale of access to market-sensitive information related to the US president.
Financial context: losses and ambitions
Despite the new source of revenue, Trump Media's core business remains deeply unprofitable. The net loss in the second quarter amounted to $238 million — more than 10 times higher than last year's figure. Revenue grew by 89% to $1.7 million, but that is a drop in the ocean against the backdrop of losses caused by the revaluation of bitcoin and stocks on the balance sheet.
Analysts are skeptical. Markus Thielen from 10x Research directly calls Trump Media a "crypto fund" rather than a media company. And it is hard to argue with that: monetizing Trump's posts through a paid API is more of a financial tool than journalism.
What's next
Against this backdrop, Trump Media refused to jointly launch a prediction markets platform with Crypto.com, which fits into the overall trend of scaling back crypto initiatives under McGern. The company still plans to complete the merger with energy company TAE Technologies, although the deal is dragging on.
Shares have lost 9% over the past five days after a recent rise. Investors are now closely watching whether Truth API can become a stable source of income, as McGern promises. For now, it is more of an exotic add-on to a loss-making business than a salvation.
My conclusion: Truth API is a striking example of how a political figure monetizes their own information asymmetry. But in the long term, the sustainability of such a model is highly questionable, especially under regulatory pressure. For the crypto industry, there is an important lesson here: the speed of data access is becoming as much of an asset as the data itself.