One of President Donald Trump’s most high-profile market-moving posts was about Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle denim ad. His fawning praise for the actress and boast about her political affiliation sparked a 24% rally in shares of the clothing retailer in August 2025.
More examples of Trump’s market-moving abilities have piled up since then, with the president’s social media musings moving the price of everything from stocks to crypto to oil. Trump Media and Technology Group, this year began offering “early access” to his posts for up to $100,000 a month.
But investing veterans aren’t sold on the prospect of paying a premium for early access. Several told Business Insider that they don’t see the benefit for long term investors, with some noting that it could ultimately prove to be a legal gray area, as the company has already been sued over Truth API since launching the tool in August.
“I can’t see how Trump’s posts ultimately give people an edge,” said Ross Gerber, CEO of Gerber Kawasaki Wealth and Investment Management.
Gerber added that, although the Securities and Exchange Commission hasn’t said anything publicly about Truth API potentially creating an uneven playing field, that might not be the case forever, and there could be regulatory risk down the road.
Michael Farr, chairman of FarrCrest Capital and former chief market strategist at Hightower Advisors, noted that while paying for Truth API may make sense for traders, he doesn’t see the benefit for institutional investors who are focused on driving sustainable portfolio growth.
“Traders make money on volatility,” he said. “Trump’s social media posts drive volatility, and while they may create value over the long term, there’s no reason to pay for early access.”
Alexander Wah, founder and CIO of small-mid cap investment firm Prince Capital, noted that his fund’s investment strategy doesn’t rely on brief windows of opportunity created by things like social media posts.
“For a certain type of investor this could be very valuable, ” he said. “However you also need to find a way to backtest how helpful it would be to have that info early. My guess is that this type of investor has already done that work.”
The announcement of Truth API sparked concerns about giving unfair advantage to traders and firms willing to pay up to see Trump’s posts before the rest of the market has had a chance to react. While the service doesn’t actually deliver the the president’s posts to subscribers before anyone else, the API is meant to be a “low latency,” real time feed that pushes updates from key accounts.
“If markets increasingly react to posts from a small number of highly influential figures, even a millisecond head start could amplify volatility,” stated Adam Nasli, lead analyst at BrokerChooser. “The fact that the US president is highly vocal and active on social media, often using urgent and emotionally charged language, could create a wider risk for investors, particularly those who are less experienced.”
Nasli added that certain phrases Trump often uses in his posts, such as “GREAT TIME TO BUY” and “Go get ’em!” can be likely to trigger an emotional response in traders who feel a sense of urgency, particularly when they see the companies mentioned by Trump start to move.
Alexander Briggs, chief trading strategist at financial analytics platform Supertrader, says while he sees some value in paying for Truth API for high frequency trading firms, he isn’t certain that the benefit justifies the $60,000-$100,000 price tag for most companies.
“If a firm can incorporate that information into its trading system milliseconds before other firms, those small differences in timing can add up when the information is used repeatedly and with large sums of money involved,” he told Business Insider. “The question then becomes whether receiving Trump’s posts a fraction of a second sooner can generate enough additional profit to justify that cost.”