Commentary: Trump's selling Wall Street early access to his Truth Social posts is ethically repugnant, but may be legal

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Set us as preferred Donald Trump’s latest scheme to monetize his presidency — selling Wall Street traders the right to an early peek at his posts on his Truth Social platform — has raised two important questions.First, isn’t this insider trading? And second, if it isn’t illegal, shouldn’t it be?Here are the short answers: Probably not.And yes, it certainly should be illegal, but may not be.This is probably not something that was ever contemplated by the insider trading laws, the STOCK Act, or the general rules about government employees and their use of government information for personal profit.— Benjamin Schiffrin, Better MarketsHere’s the deal: Trump Media and Technology Group, of which Trump owns 52% through a trust, and which controls Truth Social, his online social media platform, is selling “real-time” access to Trump’s Truth Social posts.

In effect, this will give buyers of the service an advantage of seconds or milliseconds, knowing what Trump is posting on Truth Social before their rivals do.For high-frequency or algorithmic traders on Wall Street — the customers TMTG is targeting — even the slenderest time advantage could translate into millions of dollars in gains.Commentary on economics and more from a Pulitzer Prize winner.

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Trump Media has been anything but circumspect about its new service.“When @realDonaldTrump Truths [that is, posts on Truth Social], the world reacts,” the pitch sheet says, according to the FT.

“No comparable signal exists....