A new Truth Social initiative offering paid early access to President Donald Trump's social media posts has drawn sharp criticism from federal ethics experts and market participants, who warn the service creates serious conflicts of interest.

Dylan Hedler-Gaudette, a federal ethics expert at the Project on Government Oversight, told the Washington Post that the arrangement raises significant ethical concerns.

"The pimping of specific companies — obviously Wall Street would like to know that before other people," said Hedler-Gaudette. "It's a real mess."

The concerns echo long-standing presidential ethics norms under which modern presidents have traditionally divested personal financial holdings or placed assets in blind trusts to avoid perceived conflicts. Trump did not divest his business interests during his first term, instead transferring day-to-day management to family members.

The service, known as Truth API, was set to launch August 1 and charges hedge funds and high-frequency trading firms up to $100,000 per month for milliseconds-faster access to Trump's Truth Social posts, according to the Post. In high-frequency trading, where algorithms execute thousands of orders per second, even single-digit-millisecond advantages are routinely monetized and can be decisive for profitability.

Trump owns approximately 41 percent of Trump Media, meaning nearly half of every subscription fee flows directly to him, Judiciary Committee ranking member Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) has warned.

The Post reported that Trump has been posting more frequently about publicly traded companies, and his praise has triggered "buying frenzies." A recent post speaking approvingly of Palantir Technologies and Intel both coincided with stock price peaks.

While selling faster data access is common among social media firms, the Post noted that no other platform is operated by a sitting president. The arrangement also exists in a regulatory gap: the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation FD prohibits public companies from selectively disclosing material nonpublic information to preferred investors, but the rule applies to corporate issuers, not to a president's personal social media activity.

"Truth Social doesn't just distribute the news, it makes it, regularly rattling markets as Trump posts policy changes on everything from war to central bank leadership to tariffs," the Post reported.

Irene Aldridge, head of Able Alpha Trading, told the Post her firm will not purchase early access to the feed.

"If this was the CEO of a public company, this would be jail time," said Aldridge. "We have a President of the United States who has the front seat to all the action, who makes all the decisions, and he's disclosing this ahead of time to a select group."

The Post was unable to determine which firms have subscribed. None of the half-dozen most prominent high-speed trading firms, including Citadel Securities and XTX Markets, responded to requests for comment.

If just three firms sign up at the $100,000 monthly rate, the revenue would double Trump Media's reported 2025 intake of $3.7 million. The company, which trades on Nasdaq under the ticker DJT, has reported recurring operating losses since going public via a SPAC merger, making subscription revenue potentially significant for its financial outlook.

In a related development, approximately 30 minutes after Trump published a post on Truth Social, former federal prosecutor Joyce Vance shared court records filed July 31 in the Trump v. IRS case.

"If the $1.776b slush fund and Trump tax immunity deal are really dead," Vance wrote, "then why bother to appeal, the judge's decision in Trump v IRS that ruled they were dead?"