Kathrine Frich
Trump Media & Technology Group recently announced a brand-new service.
Making money in politics has always been a sensitive issue.
While leaders usually try to keep a clear line between their public duties and their private wealth, modern technology is blurring those boundaries in completely unexpected ways.
A new business plan out of New York is now raising serious questions about where public service ends and corporate profit begins.
High speed access
Trump Media & Technology Group recently announced a brand-new service called Truth PSI.
The platform plans to charge Wall Street trading firms and large institutions for special high-speed access to popular posts.
According to HuffPost this special feed will deliver news from top contributors in mere milliseconds.
Investors can then use those precious moments to make fast trades on stocks, bonds, and interest rates before the general public even sees the information.
The Associated Press reported that the service could include the president’s own social media posts. Because his comments frequently cover national security, tariffs, and military conflicts, his words have the power to instantly shift financial markets.
Brazen corruption
This setup has triggered intense backlash from government ethics experts. Kathleen Clark is a law professor at Washington University School of Law who specializes in conflict of interest rules.
She did not hold back her criticism of the business model.
“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” Clark told the Associated Press.
She warned that the arrangement crosses a dangerous ethical line. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself,” Clark added.
Chasing new revenue
While standard conflict of interest laws bar most government officials from profiting off their office this way, the president and vice-president are legally exempt. Most past leaders still chose to step away from their businesses, but Trump has refused to do so.
The company is searching for new ways to make money after its stock price plunged more than 70% since the inauguration. To help reverse the losses, the firm recently hired a new chief executive officer, Kevin McGurn.
In an official company press release, McGurn described the high-speed feed as part of a “strategy to monetize proprietary assets.” He noted that he expected the plan to become a “meaningful, ongoing source of revenue.”
The service is scheduled to launch next month, and several clients have already signed up. Trump Media declined to comment on the criticism, and they did not state if the president’s personal posts would be blocked from the premium feed.
Sources: Huffpost, Associated Press
