Padilla Introduces Legislation to Ban Trump from Selling Inside Access to his Presidential Announcements

Trump Media Group began providing financial traders exclusive access to Trump's Truth Social posts for $100,000 per month starting August 1st

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-Calif.) introduced the Stop Corrupt Trading Act, legislation to prohibit any President or Vice President, and any entity in which they hold a substantial financial interest, from selling advance or exclusive access to the President's official or personal social media statements.

On August 1, Trump Media - of which the President owns more than 50% - launched a new scheme offering paying subscribers early access to Trump's social media posts for $100,000 per month. Trump's social media posts often generate market-moving information, especially his posts about his next moves in the unauthorized Iran war have great potential to sway financial markets - and thus generate insider trading profits for those who pay up.

One financial professional estimated that about 100 high frequency trading firms may pay for the service, which would then net Trump Media $120 million per year while Trump is in office.

"This is out in the open - Donald Trump is the most corrupt President in American history. Despite already being the richest president in history, President Trump's number one priority in office is to make himself richer while everyday Americans struggle to make ends meet," said Senator Padilla. "Selling access to his market-moving social media posts is just one example of the brazen corruption we've seen coming out of the Oval Office - and I am fighting back to put a stop to it. Americans deserve a government that works for them, not one that's for sale to hedge funds and Wall Street banks that can afford the subscription fee."

Specifically, the legislation would:

• Ban the President, Vice President, and related entities - including partnerships or companies with members of their family - from selling nonpublic information, which is explicitly defined to include "application programming interface" (API) data feeds that provide presidential information in ways that are not available for the general public. Penalties are up to two times the profit from the transaction and/or 5 years in prison.
• Ban any third-party entity from purchasing any such nonpublic information, including exclusive data feeds, as defined in the legislation. Penalties for buyers are set at up to two times the profit gained from the transaction.
• Toll the statute of limitations for conduct while a president is in office and provides for a civil right of action for disgorgement to get ill-gotten gains back for the American people.

In addition to Padilla, the bill is co-sponsored by Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), Gary Peters (D-Mich.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-R.I.). U.S. Representative Andrea Salinas (D-Ore.-06) is introducing companion legislation in the House of Representatives.

"Trump is openly selling preferential access to his presidential statements on Truth Social-trading insider information to benefit himself and his billionaire cronies. The Stop Corrupt Trading Act blocks the President's latest self-enrichment scheme and install guardrails to prevent the future sale of nonpublic information and insider access to the White House. While every day Americans are struggling with rising costs and the consequences of Trump's chaotic Administration, this legislation is needed to hold the President accountable and curtail his corruption," said Senator Blumenthal.

"President Trump is brazenly using the power of the presidency to enrich himself and give his well-connected cronies an unfair advantage over the American people," Senator Peters said. "No elected official should be able to sell early access to market-moving information for their own profit-much less the President of the United States. This is corruption in plain sight, and Congress has a responsibility to stop it. The Stop Corrupt Trading Act would establish real consequences for selling nonpublic government information and shut down this kind of presidential profiteering."

The legislation is endorsed by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), Public Citizen, Common Cause, Democracy Defenders Action, Defend the Vote Action Fund, End Citizens United, and Protect Democracy.

"President Trump has developed yet another scheme to personally profit off of his office, this time by selling early access to his Truth Social posts. This money-making ploy is yet another way in which the president is making the American economy a pay-to-play system," said Debra Perlin, Vice President for Policy at CREW. "We applaud Senator Padilla for introducing the Stop Corrupt Trading Act, which prohibits this blatant corruption, and we call on Congress to work together to ensure that our government is not for sale."

"Senator Padilla's Stop Corrupt Trading Act is a necessary reaction to the extreme corruption of Donald Trump's out-of-control executive branch," said Lisa Gilber, Co-President of Public Citizen. "There are many examples of outrageous grift from this president, but the idea of selling early access to insider information via Truth Social is particularly abhorrent and must be stopped. We applaud the Senator for pushing back on this unethical behavior."

"President Trump's decision to sell his social media posts to special interests before the general public sees them is insider trading on steroids and cannot be allowed," said Abigail Bellows, Common Cause Senior Policy Director for Anticorruption and Accountability. "That's why we support the Stop Corrupt Trading Act, which would ban the president from making money off non-public information and help restore public trust."

Senator Padilla has fought back against the Trump Administration's corruption. Last week, Padilla joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) in introducing the Anti-Corruption Bureau Creation Act, legislation that would establish a private right of action for the public and state Attorneys General to sue for recoveries and forfeitures from certain federal officials, including the President and Vice President, to get Americans money back that's been taken by corruption. The Senators announced the legislation at the Public Citizen "Combatting Corruption" forum. Last month, Padilla and Schumer launched a new Senate Democratic anti-corruption initiative to expose how Trump's rampant self-dealing is costing American families and to develop legislation that would prevent future Presidents from using public office for personal profit. Padilla also led efforts to kill the Department of Justice's (DOJ) "anti-weaponization" slush fund, and introduced the No Rewards for January 6 Rioters Act to prohibit use of federal funds to financially award them. Last year, Padilla demanded an independent investigation by the DOJ's Inspector General into the Attorney General and the Department of Justice's involvement in President Trump's unconstitutional acquisition of a $400 million luxury plane from the Qatari government.

Full text of the bill is available here.

A one pager on the bill is available here.

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