High-Frequency Traders Say They Have “No Choice” But to Pay Trump $100,000 a Month for Early Access to His Posts - Yahoo Finance

What the report says

24/7 Wall St., citing Wall Street Journal reporting discussed on CNBC, reported that some high-frequency trading firms are subscribing to a Trump Media & Technology Group data service that can cost up to $100,000 a month and delivers President Donald Trump’s Truth Social posts through a low-latency API feed. The article said Trump Media maintains that the posts are made public at the same time for all users, while paying clients are purchasing faster delivery infrastructure rather than exclusive content.

The issue matters because algorithmic traders can act on market-moving political statements in extremely short timeframes. According to the report, firms trading products such as stocks, Treasury futures, currencies and index derivatives see the service as necessary to avoid being slower than competitors. The article cited traders who said they felt compelled to subscribe because rivals were already using the feed.

The arrangement has drawn political scrutiny because Trump controls Trump Media while serving as president. 24/7 Wall St. reported that Democratic senators including Mark Warner, Elizabeth Warren and Chuck Schumer have raised concerns about market fairness, potential self-dealing and possible emoluments issues. The article noted, however, that no court or regulator has determined that the setup violates the law.

The broader question is whether presidential communications can be monetized in a way that gives professional trading firms a speed advantage over ordinary investors. The report framed the dispute as both a market-structure debate and a governance issue, with potential implications for Trump Media’s business model and for future regulatory or congressional scrutiny.