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Sep 21, 2026· Updated

Trump Media Sells Traders $100,000-a-Month Early Access to Trump's Truth Social Posts, Drawing Republican Unease, Democratic Investigations, and a First Amendment Lawsuit

On July 16, 2026, Trump Media & Technology Group announced "Truth API," a business-to-business data feed giving paying customers licensed, machine-readable, real-time delivery of posts from the highest-ranking Truth Social accounts — including the president's. The service was pitched to high-frequency traders, hedge funds, and other institutional investors at up to $100,000 a month, with a discounted $60,000 rate for firms signing three-year contracts. It launched August 1, 2026. Interim CEO Kevin McGurn said the product would let TMTG "monetize proprietary assets," adding that "markets already move on Truth Social posts." Trump controls a trust holding a large majority stake in Trump Media and therefore stands to profit directly. The reaction split along an unusual line. Democrats moved on three tracks at once: Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-N.Y.) wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins on July 21 asking the agency to examine the product before launch; Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) wrote the same day to financial-industry trade groups urging member firms to refuse to buy it; Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) sent their own SEC referral on July 28; House Judiciary ranking member Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) opened a minority investigation on July 30, demanding TMTG's customer list, pricing, marketing materials, and communications with administration officials; and Sen. Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Stop Corrupt Trading Act on August 4 with Sens. Richard Blumenthal, Sheldon Whitehouse, and Gary Peters, which would make it a federal crime for a president or vice president — or any company in which they hold at least a 5 percent stake — to sell nonpublic access to their statements. Padilla's office estimated the feed could generate roughly $120 million a year if about 100 firms subscribed. More unusually, several Senate Republicans volunteered criticism when reporters asked. Sens. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Thom Tillis (R-N.C.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), and Bill Cassidy (R-La.) all said the arrangement looked improper; Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said he was still working out how to respond. No congressional Republican publicly defended the product. On August 12, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued Trump and Trump Media in federal court in Manhattan, arguing that selling preferential access to the president's public announcements violates the First and Fifth Amendments. A TMTG spokesperson said Democrats were mischaracterizing Truth API "either out of ideological opposition to free markets or a failure to grasp the distinction between public and nonpublic information," and the White House has said there is no conflict of interest. No regulator has determined that the service is unlawful; the SEC had not publicly acted as of mid-August.

“Trump Media created a marketplace that enables insider trading, which Trump directly profits from. This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.”
David Chiu (D-CA) · Sep 21, 2026

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Sep 16, 2026· Updated

Two Days Before the Iran War Turns Six Months Old, Trump Posts "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 2026" — and the Top Democrat on Armed Services Answers That "Not a Single Objective Has Been Achieved"

On Aug. 26, 2026, President Trump posted an image to Truth Social captioned "Mission Accomplished 2026," pairing a photograph of George W. Bush labeled "Mission Not Accomplished 2001-2021" with an image of Iran's late Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei — a deliberate invocation of the 2003 banner that became a byword for premature victory declarations. Two days later, on Aug. 28, the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran reached its six-month mark. The conflict Trump had described at the outset as a short excursion has cost at least 18 American service members' lives, injured more than 750, and consumed roughly $100 billion in appropriated funds. Iran's nuclear program has not been dismantled, the regime has not fallen — Khamenei's son Mojtaba succeeded him — and the Strait of Hormuz remains a contested flashpoint under U.S. blockade. Trump said this week he is "not in a hurry" to resume negotiations. Sen. Jack Reed, the ranking Democrat on Armed Services, issued a point-by-point accounting of the six war aims Trump named in February and said none had been met. Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer called the president delusional for claiming victory. DNC Chair Ken Martin tied the war directly to the November midterms. Trump, for his part, spent the anniversary insisting the blockade is total and that Iran is the party that wants to meet.

“Well, hopefully we are toward the end of the war. They want to make a deal. We'll see how that works out.”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 16, 2026

Ten Days After Renaming Lake Ontario, Trump Posts a Map With "Mexico" Crossed Out and Calls New Mexico "One of the Great Vote Cheating States of All Time" — the State's Entire Democratic Delegation, Its Governor and Both Nominees to Succeed Her Answer "Oh Hell No," and a Republican Senator Says the New Name Is "Kind of Catchy"

On Sunday, September 6, 2026 — in the middle of a Labor Day weekend posting spree that also included an image of the Moon captioned "THE MOON IS OURS" and a string of AI-generated pictures — President Trump posted a map of New Mexico on Truth Social with the word "Mexico" crossed out in red and "America" written beneath it. The official White House account reposted the image on X. In a follow-up post, Trump wrote that "many people suggested changing the name of New Mexico, one of the great vote cheating states of all time, to NEW AMERICA," calling the name "so much more prestigious and beautiful for the people of that potentially incredible State. Wow, I Love It!!!" The post followed a debunked online hoax claiming Trump had already signed an executive order renaming the state, and came ten days after he did sign an order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" during the tariff fight with Canada, and days after he floated and then withdrew renaming the Strait of Hormuz "Trump Strait." A president cannot rename a state by executive action; the White House announced no formal effort to do so. The reaction from New Mexico was immediate and unanimous across the ballot. Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham said the name "isn't up for debate — it's been ours since before the United States existed" and that "while the White House wastes time coloring on maps, Nuevo México is busy doing the work." Sen. Martin Heinrich listed "three things I will always call by their actual names: The Gulf of Mexico. Lake Ontario. New Mexico." Sen. Ben Ray Luján said "it's New Mexico, always has been and always will be." Rep. Melanie Stansbury opened her post with "Oh hell no!" and Rep. Gabe Vasquez told the president "you don't get to erase New Mexico." Both nominees to succeed Lujan Grisham rejected it: Democrat Deb Haaland ("You can't be serious") and Republican Gregg Hull, the mayor of Rio Rancho, who said the state's identity "is not up for negotiation." Outside the state, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah was the lone elected Republican to weigh in, posting: "New America? Kind of catchy."

“This is truly unhinged behavior from the President of the United States. I don't want to hear 'oh, it's just Trump being Trump' or that he's 'trolling.' Enough. None of this is normal or okay. Republicans cannot keep shrugging this off.”
Gavin Newsom (D-CA) · Sep 7, 2026

Trump Floats Renaming the Strait of Hormuz "TRUMP STRAIT" on Truth Social — Then Says Hours Later "I Was Just Throwing That Out" — as Sanders Tells Him "You're the President, Not a Mad King"

On September 2, 2026, hours after a wave of US Central Command strikes on roughly 100 IRGC targets and Iranian retaliation against bases in Jordan, Kuwait and Bahrain, President Trump posted on Truth Social: "Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!" Asked about it in the Oval Office later the same afternoon, Trump backed off the idea, saying he had just been throwing it out. The White House's official X account nonetheless posted a map showing a Trump-branded Strait of Hormuz and said the name had "a nice ring to it." The post landed three weeks after Trump said he would declare the strait US territory when the Iran war ends, and days after he signed an order renaming Lake Ontario "Lake America" during the trade fight with Canada — a renaming a Reuters/Ipsos poll found 63% of Americans opposed. Sen. Bernie Sanders and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer both told Trump to drop the renaming and focus on fuel prices and ending the war.

“Now that we have it under U.S.A. control, should we change the name Hormuz Strait to TRUMP STRAIT??? Like America itself, it would be 'hotter' than ever before!”
Donald Trump (R-FL) · Sep 2, 2026