Everyone who wants to keep track of President Trump's views knows that he is going to his social account. There, his reasoning is found about a Panophy of issues, including military strikes in Somalia, rates about Canada and Mexico, Russia relations, the causes of a deadly aircraft collision, American ownership of the Gaza Strip and a budget law now for the congress.
On Wednesday, for example, after the first discussions of sailing between the United States and Russia about the war in Ukraine, he used the bill to attack the leader of Ukraine. “Remember, a modest successful comedian, Volodymyr Zenskyy, the United States of America has talked to spend $ 350 billion dollars, to go into a war that could not be won, who should never start,” said the post of the president. “Zenskyy is better off moving quickly or he will not have a country left.”
In some respects, such statements are related to how Mr. Trump Twitter, now called X, in his megaphone in his first term in his first term, when administration officers stated his posts to be official communication of the White House.
But a big difference is striking: Mr. Trump is the largest shareholder in Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that owns Truth Social, and is therefore to take advantage of taking traffic to the site immediately. Although he has put his shares of Trump Media in a trust that is checked by his oldest son, the president remains the most important draw of the platform that is the characteristic product of the company.
His social social posts are just one example of the intersection of the official role of Mr Trump and Trump Media. On Wednesday, in an extraordinary step, Trump Media complained to a Brazilian Supreme Court who supervises several criminal studies by Jair Bolsonaro, the former Brazilian president who described Mr Trump as one of his 'great friends'.
The lawsuit, accused of the judge of illegal censor of right -wing voices on social media, seemed to be an attempt to put pressure on the foreign court because he considered whether he should arrest Mr Bolsonaro.
Trump Media is also planning to expand from social media to financial services, to open another empire for conflicts of interest. That company is said to be involved in investment vehicles whose industry experts predicted, approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission would be necessary. Mr. Trump has appointed Paul Atkins, an old Republican Commissioner, to be the chairman of the office. He is waiting for confirmation by the Senate.
In another apparent mixing of interests, Mr Trump Devin Nunes, the Chief Executive of Trump Media, chose to serve as head of the president and Scott Glabe, the general counsel for the company, as a board member.
All this fits into a pattern of distant mother's violations of the standards that once ruled interest conflicts than took place in the first term of Mr Trump, then foreign officials and others looking for his favor, his resort in Florida and To the luxury Trump Hotel near the White House, say ethical lawyers and experts.
“The potential for conflicts of interest is relatively broadened and even deepens it until the president's first term because he has interests in a much broader range of companies than when he was last in the White House,” said Daniel I. Weiner, A government, a government expert at the Brennan Center for Justice, a non -party -related think tank focused on democracy issues. Even the appearance that the personal interests of the President are interwoven with the public interest “is very corrosive for our political system,” he said.
Harrison Fields, a spokesperson for the White House, said in response to questions from the New York Times about the possible conflicts of interest of the president that “President Trump is dedicated to use any direct communication line to the American people. In addition to its consistent interactions with the press corps, this confirms his estate as the most transparent president in history. “
When asked to comment, a Trump Media spokeswoman criticized Times and said it made false insinuations, but did not answer questions regarding his company.
Trump Media does not make bones about his heavy dependence on the fame and popularity of Mr. Trump. In a submission of last week to the SEC, the company noted that Mr Trump has the freedom to minimize his social social posts, “who can have a material adverse effect on the company.”
But that is exactly what he has to do to prevent him from combining his private financial interests and his official role, said John Pelissero, a government ethics expert at Santa Clara University. “He would, like other presidents in the past, only use official communication of the White House when he talks about the government and not about the company he owns.”
Mr. Trump's communication also serves to boost X, who is owned by Elon Musk, now a top adviser of Mr. Trump and a special government officer. The truth of Mr Trump Social Messages of Presidential Import are routinely replaced on the social media platform of Mr. Musk, usually after an interval of a few hours, in a clear attempt to strengthen traffic on truth.
Mr. Trump has around 101 million followers on X, compared to nearly nine million on Truth Social, a number that has grown since his election in November.
“Whether it will continue to speak directly with the American people through the truth, X, Instagram or another social media platform, the president and the White House-a long-awaited change over the past four years,” said Mr Fields in response For questions such as about the president's reposts on X.
Although social media companies are only loosely federally regulated, Trump's plans will justify the more of Trump Media to extend to financial services and products under the competence of federal supervisors.
Trump Media said earlier this month that it was planning to invest up to $ 250 million in the company to offer financial products that will be developed with Charles Schwab, one of the largest brokerage companies in the country, and a small investment company in New Jersey, Yorkville Advisors. Industry experts said that federal supervisors could put themselves under pressure to provide those products favorable treatment.
From now on the commissioners can only be fired due to the cause, but the Trump government sets a legal challenge for the independence of the SEC and various other regulatory authorities. An executive order signed on Tuesday requires the revision of the White House of their proposed regulations, claims a power to block the spending on efforts that are contrary to presidential priorities and explains that the agencies are interpretation of the President's law and the Ministry of Justice must accept as binding.
The financial services are also supervised by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, a federal watchdog agency that is now trying to close the White House. Mr. Trump has called the agency a hotbed of 'waste, fraud and abuse' run by a 'vicious group' whose only goal is to 'destroy people'.
Proponents point out the fact that the agency has returned to consumers about $ 21 billion due to its enforcement actions.
Earlier this month, Russell T. Vought, who runs the Office of Management and Budget and was mentioned as the new acting director of the consumer agency, the staff and contractors of the agency to stop the work. A federal court ordered a temporary stopping of mass dismissals, data exhibitions and financing cuts at the office on Friday, but the future of the agency is deeply questioned.
Without that watchdog it will be easier for financial service providers to roughly suffer from consumers, said Kathleen Clark, professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis who specializes in government ethics. In the light of Trump Media's plans, “no wonder he wants to destroy it,” she said.
Ethical experts also warned during the presidential campaign that if Mr Trump was chosen, Truth Social could be a simple way to influence him. Foreigners, companies and others who want to influence him can buy shares in the companies or advertisements on Truth Social in attempts to set up share values and enrich the Trump family.
“A foreign nation no longer has to rent out the floor of a hotel to cover President Trump's bag,” said Mrs. Clark.
Since Mr. Trump founded Trump Media in 2021, the company has suffered substantial losses and hassle to generate income from advertisements about Truth Social or via video streaming. Last year it reported $ 3.6 million in turnover – 12 percent less than the year before – and $ 130 million in costs. Much of the costs that apparently related to a merger and its arrival as a public company.
Nevertheless, the $ 777 million in cash, apparently generated by the merger and sale of shares, mainly to Yorkville. The market value of $ 6.6 billion is almost 2,000 times its turnover of 2024.
Although Mr. Trump is not an officer or director of Trump Media, he owns 53 percent of the company's shares, an interest that is now appreciated at around $ 3.5 billion. He transferred those shares in December to a trust that is exclusively checked by Donald Trump Jr., his eldest son who is a board member.
But several legal experts said that action does nothing to tackle the ties between his personal financial interests and his role as president.
“Whether it is in trust is completely irrelevant,” said Mrs. Clark, “because eventually the money ends up in Trump's pocket.”
Julie Tate contributed research.
