Trump Media & Technology is scaling back several business plans as financial pressure mounts.

The company behind Truth Social is returning its attention to its original media operation while adding a paid service designed to give customers faster access to posts from President Donald Trump.

The move could bring in significant revenue, but it also raises questions about ethics, the company’s finances and what happens to the platform after Trump leaves office.

A Shift Back to Truth Social

Trump launched Truth Social after he was removed from Twitter and Facebook. Both platforms later restored his accounts, leaving Truth Social to find a stronger reason for users to stay.

Over time, the platform developed into a place where Trump and other high-profile figures can publish statements before they spread across traditional news outlets.

That role has become especially important during Trump’s presidency. His posts have addressed major issues, including the Iran war, tariffs and the future of the U.S. central bank. As a result, Truth Social has increasingly functioned like a direct channel for presidential statements.

Instagram | fluxcharts | Truth Social established itself as the primary publishing spot for high-profile political figures.

Trump Media, however, has struggled to turn that attention into consistent financial growth. The company expanded into several unrelated areas, including online betting, financial services, investment funds, bitcoin and nuclear energy. Those efforts have not produced the turnaround investors expected.

Now, the company is cutting back on much of that expansion and focusing more heavily on Truth Social.

A New Paid Data Service

The biggest change is a service called Truth API. It provides customers with faster access to posts published on Truth Social. The service targets businesses that may benefit from receiving information quickly, including high-speed trading firms, news organizations, data center companies and developers working with large language models.

During a Monday conference call with investors, Trump Media’s new chief executive, Kevin McGurn, said several high-speed trading firms had already signed up. Each customer is paying between $60,000 and $100,000 per month.

McGurn said the company was still in the early stages of building the service and was speaking with potential customers across several industries.

The numbers are significant for a company of Trump Media’s size. Ten customers signing up within the first week could generate between $600,000 and $1 million per month. On an annual basis, that works out to roughly $7.2 million to $12 million if those customers remain active.

That amount could equal two to three times the revenue Trump Media generated across all of its businesses during the previous year.

The service has also attracted criticism. Democrats and government watchdog groups have questioned whether selling faster access to presidential statements creates an ethical problem, especially when those statements can influence financial markets.

McGurn has rejected that characterization. He has argued that other social media companies sell comparable data services. The White House has also denied that Trump’s government responsibilities create conflicts with his private business interests.

Trump Media Faces Heavy Losses

The new revenue opportunity comes as the company deals with substantial financial losses.

Trump Media has lost more than $1 billion since the beginning of last year. Its latest earnings report, covering the three months that ended June 30, showed another $238 million loss. Much of that figure came from paper losses tied to the falling value of the company’s bitcoin holdings.

The financial pressure makes the new data service particularly important. Yet the company still faces larger questions about whether its business model can produce stable income over time.

Trump Media also relies on outside financing. The company raised $1 billion from lenders through an agreement involving convertible notes. Those lenders have the right to demand early repayment on Nov. 30, which is 18 months before the loans reach maturity.

That deadline comes shortly after the November midterm elections. A change in control of Congress could create additional pressure for the company. Several Democrats, including Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, have said they would pursue formal investigations into Trump’s businesses, including Trump Media, if Democrats regain control of Congress.

What Happens After Trump Leaves Office?

The biggest long-term question may be Trump himself.

Trump remains the dominant figure on Truth Social, with about 13 million followers. His son, Donald Trump Jr., is the platform’s second-most-followed major poster, with about 7.5 million followers.

Other prominent accounts include FBI Director Kash Patel and Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Their visibility, however, could change if they leave government positions.

Instagram | donaldjtrumpjr | Donald Trump and his son lead Truth Social, boasting 13 million and 7.5 million followers respectively.

JD Vance presents a different possibility. The vice president has about 5 million followers on Truth Social. Although his current term runs through 2028, a future presidential campaign could keep him highly relevant to the platform. If Vance were elected president and continued using Truth Social, the company could retain a major political figure after Trump leaves office.

That possibility matters because the value of Truth API depends partly on the importance of the people posting on the platform. Traders may pay high fees for immediate access to information from a sitting president.

The business case becomes less obvious if the platform loses that source of market-moving announcements.

Nuclear Fusion Remains on the Table

Trump Media is not abandoning every venture outside social media. McGurn said the company still plans to pursue nuclear fusion.

Fusion is not yet commercially available at scale, but the industry has received stronger support from the federal government. In June, the U.S. Department of Energy released a roadmap that called for government funding to speed up fusion development and encouraged public-private partnerships.

That support gives Trump Media another potential avenue for future growth, although fusion remains a long-term technology rather than an immediate source of meaningful revenue.

Investors have remained skeptical despite the company’s new plans. Trump Media shares traded near $62 shortly after the company went public in 2024. Since then, the stock has fallen into the single digits, wiping out billions of dollars in market value.

On Tuesday, shares dropped about 3.3% to close at $9.08.

The company therefore faces several deadlines at once: improving its financial results, managing its debt obligations and proving that Truth Social can remain valuable beyond Trump’s current presidency.

Trump Media is shifting its focus back to Truth Social as it scales down several side ventures. Its Truth API service creates a new revenue stream by giving businesses faster access to posts from President Donald Trump.

The company’s outlook will depend on whether enough customers continue paying for that access and whether Truth Social can retain its audience after Trump leaves office.