Trump Posts Image on Truth Social Amid Scrutiny of Media Company

Trump shares a single-image post as his media company draws criticism over a plan to sell priority access to Truth Social posts and its stock slides.

First Published: July 26, 2026, 11:48 AM ET

WASHINGTON D.C. — Donald J. Trump shared a single-image post on Truth Social, the flagship platform of a media company whose stock has lost more than 70% of its value since he took office.

The post carried no text and one image. It arrived as Trump Media & Technology Group, the parent of truthsocial, faces mounting questions over a new plan to sell high-speed access to its most-followed accounts. Stock in the company, which trades on the Nasdaq under the ticker DJT, has plunged more than 70% since the president took office last year, erasing $6 billion in shareholder wealth according to theguardian.com.

“He’s selling expedited, privileged access to information about what he is doing as president,” said Kathleen Clark of the Washington University School of Law, an expert in government conflict-of-interest rules. “It’s yet more brazen corruption, an improper exploitation of government power to enrich himself.”

The wordless image lands as Trump continues to use truthsocial as his primary megaphone, a channel he turns to for announcements that move markets and shape policy debates.

Here is the full post on truthsocial: “truthsocial post containing one image.” on July 26, 2026 at 3:33 PM ET.

This is one of many messages released by Trump today. In the last 30 days, 34 of 425 Trump posts were on topic “Image Only Posts”.

The image post surfaces days after the company announced Truth PSI, a service that would let Wall Street trading firms and other institutions see the highest-ranking truthsocial accounts before other users, according to theguardian.com. The most-followed poster on the platform is the president himself, with 12.9 million followers, and, as the biggest shareholder of the publicly traded parent, he would benefit directly, according to theguardian.com. Kevin McGurn, the media executive who replaced former congressman Devin Nunes as chief executive, described the service as part of a strategy to monetize proprietary assets, according to theguardian.com.

The stakes run in two directions. Traders who pay for early access could profit from moves in stocks, bonds and interest rates when Trump posts about tariffs or foreign policy. Ordinary shareholders and retail investors absorb the losses from a stock that has shed billions in value. Critics argue the plan converts the presidency into a revenue stream, while the company frames it as a legitimate source of ongoing revenue.

Trump launched the company in 2021 after Meta’s Facebook and X banned him following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, according to theguardian.com. truthsocial went live in February 2022, and the business went public in March 2024 through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., listing at an initial valuation of $8 billion, according to capital.com. The stock opened at $70.90 on its first trading day before sliding to a low of $11.75 by September 2024, according to capital.com.

The company’s market value now stands near $2.67 billion, a fraction of the roughly $8 billion valuation at its debut, according to theguardian.com. That decline outpaces the drawdowns seen at many newly listed technology firms over the same span.

For the average reader, the platform matters because Trump regularly uses it to announce decisions on tariffs and foreign conflicts that ripple into fuel prices, borrowing costs and retirement accounts. A paid feed that hands institutions a head start could widen the gap between professional traders and everyday investors reacting to the same posts.

This is not the first time the company has drawn regulatory and market scrutiny. Investigations by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission delayed the original merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp., and reports of a founder selling shares helped drive the stock lower in 2024, according to capital.com.

The next decision rests with Trump Media, which said it plans to launch Truth PSI next month and has already signed up customers, according to theguardian.com. A precise start date has not been announced.

Battles between a sitting president and questions over private enrichment aren’t new to American history. President Ulysses S. Grant saw his second term consumed by the Whiskey Ring scandal of 1875, when distillers and Treasury officials skimmed millions in federal liquor taxes, and by the 1872 Credit Mobilier affair that ensnared members of Congress and his own vice president. Grant’s personal secretary, Orville Babcock, stood trial before winning acquittal. The scandals stained Grant’s reputation for the rest of his life and colored how historians judged his presidency for a century.