Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) reported on Monday that its revenue rose 205% in the third quarter, a growth that the company said was “driven primarily” by the sale of a high-speed feed of posts on its social platform, Truth Social. The service, which the company calls the “Truth API,” allows news organizations, Wall Street trading firms and other services to pay between $60,000 and $100,000 per month for a direct feed of posts on the social network. Critics have condemned the service as an attempt to profit from the posts of former President Donald Trump, who is the most prominent user of Truth Social.
Trump, whose revocable trust is the largest single shareholder of Trump Media, owns more than 41% of the company, according to data from S&P Capital IQ. In a June statement to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the trust noted that Donald Trump Jr. was “the sole trustee and has sole voting and investment power” over its holdings. Trump Media shares, which trade under the symbol DJT (Trump’s initials), closed at $4.06 on Monday, giving the company a market value of $1.13 billion. However, the value of the shares has fallen 69% so far this year.
In July, Trump Media announced the high-speed feed offering, saying it would allow “real-time access to posts from Truth Social’s top accounts.” The company acknowledged that the service could be a market mover and highly valuable to any trading firm. Kevin McGurn, Trump Media’s interim CEO, said at the time that “markets are already moving off of Truth Social posts.” He added that “high-frequency and algorithmic trading firms that require a low-latency, machine-readable feed, instead of manual tracking” could benefit from paying for the service. In August, the company announced that the service had gone live.
Last month, Reuters reported that Bloomberg and two Wall Street trading firms were among the clients that had signed up for the service. While Bloomberg declined to comment to NBC News in October, the two other firms did not respond to requests for comment at the time. Two senior Democratic senators, Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California, said the Truth Social feed constitutes “a shameless abuse of the presidency for his personal benefit.” In July, they asked the SEC to “determine whether the proposed arrangement would violate applicable federal securities laws.”
Trump was asked on Sunday whether he was using the presidency to enrich himself. “I pay almost no attention to my net worth,” Trump told CBS News’s “60 Minutes” in an interview. “I have a lot of money, and a lot more than I ever thought I would have. And I think it’s gone up. I don’t even know.” Trump said his son “takes care of” his money, adding: “I don’t even talk to him about it.” Trump’s personal finances differ greatly from those of recent presidents. In June, his latest personal financial disclosure was more than 900 pages. By comparison, President Barack Obama’s final disclosure form was eight pages, while that of President Joe Biden was 11. Vice President JD Vance’s disclosure for last year is 17 pages. Trump’s disclosure shows billions of dollars in income tied to cryptocurrencies, media deals and large personal investments in stocks and bonds. The White House has consistently insisted that “neither the President nor his family is involved in — or will ever be involved in — conflicts of interest.”
Taken from NBC News