This new service arrives along with an array of other deals by Trump and his family company, and critics have long said they are exploiting his position in office for profit. Truth PSI is similar to paid access on rival platforms, though with one significant difference: President Trump is the most popular poster on Truth Social, and the biggest shareholder, meaning that he would directly benefit. Kathleen Clark, an expert in government conflicts of interest rules, said: “He’s selling expedited privileged access to information about what he is doing as President…It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”
Trump and his family have a history of corruption. To list a few of the most recent, Qatar gifted Trump a $400 million Boeing 747 last year, and accepting this gift without consent from Congress has raised numerous ethical and legal concerns. Another instance involved the company Palantir: Trump bought their shares, and coincidentally, they were being awarded a federal military contract. In a one-year time span, Trump’s financial holdings reveal that he took in more than $2.2 billion in revenue last year.
But President Trump is not the only elected official engaging in ethically questionable deals. Members of Congress have access to nonpublic information that can impact financial markets and influence policies in sectors where they hold financial interests. Examples of possible conflicts of interest include lawmakers from both parties who made profitable stock trades. Nancy Pelosi, former Democratic Speaker of the House, is infamous for her family’s stock portfolio, which expanded from $30 to $278 million in her time in office, and is only one such example.
Sources:
Trump firm plans to sell priority access to Truth Social posts, possibly his own | The Associated Press
Trump Media pitched $100,000 monthly fee for fast feed of president’s posts | Financial Times
Unwrapping Qatar’s $400 Million Winged Gift to Trump | FactCheck.org
Epic Corruption in Plain Sight | Brennan Center For Justice
Trump’s $2B income in 2025 raises fresh questions about profiting off presidency | PBS News
Nancy Pelosi’s Family Turned $30 Million Into $278 Million Trading Stocks. Congress Just Voted to Ban It During Her Final Term. | Yahoo Finance
Wall Street’s response
While corruption in the US government is nothing new, Wall Street’s response this time around has been tepid. Experts warn that any firm that takes up Trump’s offer could open itself up to legal jeopardy. This is because Trump would essentially be using government information to enrich himself. While likely not risking the wrath of a Trump-controlled federal justice department, it could raise the ire of several state attorneys-general. Many of them will not be so forgiving, especially the Democratic officials looking to score political points against a Republican administration.
Of course, this is not the first Trump scheme Wall Street has seen. Since the beginning of the Israel/US–Iran War, there have been a string of suspiciously timed stock trades, all happening just before Trump made an important announcement, such as a ceasefire. Sometimes these occurred minutes before such announcements, which has raised many eyebrows but led to very few investigations.
It has gotten to the point where Iran, the nation the US is at war with, is accusing multiple members of the Trump administration of actively using their positions in the peace negotiations for profit. This includes Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who Iran said is actively undermining the negotiations. This is on top of Trump’s many declarations of approaching a ceasefire agreement before the markets close, followed by increased military action afterwards.
Sources:
Trump Media fast feed for president’s posts sparks Wall Street backlash | Financial Times
Mysterious trading patterns follow Trump into war | Axios
Is anyone gonna do anything about these Iran War trades? | The Indicator from Planet Money
Iran Accuses Kushner, Witkoff of Pursuing Profits Over Peace in Diplomatic Talks | Common Dreams
Iran Says It Tried to Warn JD Vance About Kushner and Witkoff | The New Republic
The kingpin of cryptocurrency
This is the major fear surrounding Trump’s grafts, foreign and domestic: that the presidency is now a profitable position. Trump’s reported earnings in 2025 are alleged to be well over $2.2 billion. A large portion of these earnings (about $1.2 billion) were gained from cryptocurrency.
According to the U.S. House Committee on Financial Services, Trump licensed his name to a MAGA Memecoin token and received a “cut of the supply” for about $315 million. Furthermore, Trump’s crypto firm, World Liberty Financial, earned Trump about $390 million US dollars. He has also invested in other ventures, such as a $60 million “stablecoin” and digital trading cards called non-fungible tokens (NFT).
The scale of Trump’s grafts has led to concerns that he is enabling a climate of corruption down to the very roots of the White House. On top of the various family connections Trump is exploiting, just recently, White House teleprompter operator Gabriel Perez has been accused of making trades on online prediction sites based on what Trump would say during his speeches.
Sources:
Day 5: Crypto Has Made Trump $1.2 BILLION Richer – and Counting | U.S. House Committee on Financial Services
Trump filing shows he took in about $1.2 billion from crypto business last year | The Associated Press
Trump Media pitched $100,000/month fee for fastest feed of U.S. president’s posts, sources say | CNBC
Fighting against the tide
We have spent some time discussing how there are few guardrails against blatant corruption. How the American political class operates under different rules than normal civilians and even rich firms. How Trump once again seems poised to get away with naked theft. Yet, there is a movement to stop this practice.
On July 22, House Republicans and 13 Democrats joined in to pass the Stop Insider Trading Act that would prohibit members of Congress, their spouses and dependent children from purchasing publicly traded stocks. If passed into law, lawmakers would be required to disclose each intended sale of stocks or face penalties. This bill aims to prevent lawmakers from exploiting their positions for personal financial gain via insider trading.
House passes bill to limit stock purchases by members of Congress | CBS News
Lawmaker stock-trading crackdown eyed for House vote | Politico
There is not yet similar pressure to stop the Trump family’s many moneymaking schemes, but as always, time will tell. America is once again in a time of turbulence, and we will see if it manages to overcome itself or once again allows greed to go unchecked.
Liam Roman, Casey Herrmann, Alexandros Ouzounis
Assistant Editors
Comment