Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. (NASDAQ: DJT), the operator of Truth Social, is facing fresh regulatory scrutiny over its planned monetization of presidential communications.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) has sent a formal letter to SEC Chair Paul Atkins, urging the regulator to investigate whether Truth API violates federal securities laws, Congress.net reported on Thursday.
Truth API is a new business-to-business data feed that Trump Media plans to launch on August 1, offering real-time licensed access to posts from the platform’s most influential accounts.
A key feature of the service would give paying subscribers access to posts from the 10 most popular Truth Social accounts several milliseconds ahead of ordinary users.
Reuters previously reported that Trump Media quoted prospective clients prices of as much as $100,000 a month for access to the feed.
Trump Media’s interim CEO Kevin McGurn framed the product in commercial terms, stating, “Markets already move on Truth Social posts.”
McGurn added that “Truth API delivers a direct, licensed, real-time feed of the platform’s most market-moving Truths while advancing our strategy to monetize proprietary assets through a high-margin, recurring revenue stream.”
Torres argued that President Trump retains roughly a 41% stake in Trump Media through a revocable trust, making this situation fundamentally different from ordinary data licensing.
He contended that selling sophisticated traders “faster access to his market-moving policy announcements” is “fundamentally different” from a standard platform licensing public data.
Torres warned that even a brief informational edge can generate substantial profits in algorithmic markets and erode confidence in a fair and level playing field.
“American markets cannot remain credible if presidential power is converted into a privately sold trading advantage,” Torres wrote in the letter.
The congressman asked the SEC to evaluate whether Truth API implicates securities laws, market manipulation protections, broker-dealer obligations, conflict-of-interest concerns, or other investor-protection requirements.
He also urged the agency to coordinate with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, the Office of Government Ethics, and other federal bodies to examine potential conflicts of interest.
The letter adds to a growing political debate over Truth API, with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) last week arguing the product amounted to “the definition of insider trading.”
An SEC spokesperson declined to comment on Torres’s request, and Trump Media did not respond to requests for comment ahead of publication.
Trump Media also holds 9,542 Bitcoin valued at approximately $629.5 million as of July 22, underscoring the company’s broadening financial ambitions beyond traditional media revenue.
