The news comes as Trump faces scrutiny for promoting companies on Truth Social that he bought stock in.
President Donald Trump’s media company is launching a new product that will allow banks and financial traders to access Truth Social’s data at the “fastest” speed for a fee, giving them exclusive real-time access to posts that may affect the markets, as Trump’s posts frequently do.
The product is known as “Truth API,” and Trump Media & Technology Group, which runs Truth Social plans to leverage it into a “meaningful source of revenue for the company,” said interim CEO Kevin McGurn.
“Markets already move on Truth Social posts,” McGurn said. He also added that the company hopes to “create a lot of friction” for firms that have already been scraping Truth Social data, which the company says is against its terms of service.
The new product comes as the Trump administration faces scrutiny over potential insider trading, spurring the White House to send a warning to staff discouraging them from making bets related to the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran on prediction markets. This followed reports of unusual activity surrounding bets before the start of the war, which came unannounced, during which traders placed over $500 million in bets on the war starting as well as $950 million in bets on oil prices.
Trump himself is also under scrutiny for questionable trading activity. In an analysis published Thursday, CNN documented over 20 times in which Trump promoted companies just days after buying stock in them. Breaking from prior presidencies, Trump’s assets aren’t in a blind trust, which means that he can see stock trades being made in his portfolio — and could, consequently, be manipulating markets for personal gain. Last year alone, managers of Trump’s assets made over 20,000 stock trades.
“This is why we’ve long said government officials should not be able to trade stock while they’re in office,” said Dylan Hedtler-Gaudette, interim vice president of policy and government affairs for the Project on Government Oversight, to CNN. “That definitely applies to the president and the disproportionate power of that office.”
The CNN report raises further questions of Trump using his office for personal financial gain; prior reporting has revealed that Trump has made $2.2 billion during his first year back in office, including $1.4 billion from his cryptocurrency dealings, like his $TRUMP coin.
Trump’s teleprompter operator is also reportedly under investigation for winning over $100,000 while placing bets on the content of the president’s speeches on prediction market Kalshi.
Gabriel Perez has been operating Trump’s teleprompter since 2016, and is discussing a settlement with federal regulators on the allegations that he used his knowledge of the speeches for his winnings, ABC reported. He allegedly placed bets on more than a dozen trades.
Kalshi has a “Mentions” platform that allows users to place bets on words or phrases that will be used on things like sports broadcasts, earnings calls, and political remarks. This includes bets on the contents of Trump’s speeches; for instance, in a market on Trump’s upcoming speech to the nation on Thursday night, users can place bets on whether or not Trump will say the words “election” or “SAVE America Act,” among others.
Perez reportedly placed bets on over a dozen speeches ranging back to Trump’s December 2025 primetime address. He also allegedly bet on the president’s speech at the World Economic Forum in January; State of the Union address in February; and remarks during a Medal of Honor ceremony.
Kalshi’s top lawyer says that the company “promptly” alerted the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) of the trades. White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters that Trump believes news of the report is “a disgrace” and that Perez has been placed on paid administrative leave. A different person will operate Trump’s teleprompter for Thursday night’s speech, Leavitt said.
“The White House has extremely strict ethical guidelines with respect to issues like this, and as I just told you, this individual will no longer be here,” she told reporters at a news conference. “That was a decision by the president, so I think that speaks for itself.”
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