The Truth Social American Energy Security ETF is also notable for combining traditional energy stocks like Exxon Mobil Corp XOM and Chevron Corp CVX with utility names like Constellation Energy Corp CEG and NextEra Energy Inc. NEE, setting it apart from more conventional energy-focused funds, Ullal said.

“From a sector perspective, I think it’s a unique and quite differentiated product relative to some of its larger peers,” Ullal told MarketWatch in a telephone interview Tuesday.

Don’t miss: Why Trump Media is getting into the nuclear business with a $6 billion APR deal

While some of Truth Social’s ETFs are quite unique in their constituents, it’s not yet known how much influence Trump will have in driving fund moves, or whether his political involvement will pose conflicts of interest, Ullal said.

Trump does not directly own any shares of Trump Media & Technology Group thereafter transferring its entire stake: approximately 114.7 million shares — into a revocable trust in December 2024. The president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., is the trustee of the trust and has sole voting and investment power over all securities he owns.

Trump Media and Yorkville America Equities, the Florida-based asset manager that serves as the ETF’s sponsor and investment adviser, did not respond to a request for comment on whether there has been any coordination with the Trump administration regarding the Truth Social ETFs.

Shares of Trump Media, which trades under the symbol “DJT,” fell 4.5 percent after Tuesday’s announcement.

From the archives (April 2025): Trump’s social media firm seeks bitcoin ETF in latest move into crypto, partnering with company that could invite conflicts of interest

History suggests that thematic ETFs could be problematic, as they have a history of launching late in a market cycle, charging higher fees and underperforming once the hype dies down.

See: The race to launch increasingly risky leveraged ETFs in the US is heating up

Thematic ETFs are designed to capture emerging trends, but many are released only after a theme has already gained traction. This can cause investors to buy just on the hype and risk seeing the gains quickly fade away after entering.

Certainly, after years of lackluster thematic ETF launches, 2025 has generated renewed interest in thematic ETFs and growth assets under management. In the first three quarters of this year, asset managers launched 82 new U.S.-listed thematic funds, more than double the 36 launched during the same period in 2024, a sign that the industry is again banking on investors’ sustained appetite for thematic strategies, according to data compiled by Morningstar Manager Research.

Global thematic assets under management hit a three-year high of $779 billion in the third quarter of 2025, although that is still 15% below the 2021 peak, a team of Morningstar analysts led by Kenneth Lamont said in a December client note.

However, “the odds of selecting a thematic fund that will outlast and outperform global equities over longer periods have been slim,” Morningstar analysts said.

Not to mention thematic ETFs often charge higher fees, adding another layer of concern for investors chasing very low costs. According to Morningstar, Truth Social ETFs report expense ratios of 65 basis points, slightly above the average of 40 basis points for non-thematic index-based ETFs.

See: Inside the Great ETF Boom of 2025: “How Do You Navigate It All?”

US stock futures were lower on Wednesday morning. On Tuesday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA and the Nasdaq Composite COMP each fell 0.2%, while the S&P 500 SPX fell 0.1%.

Robert Schroeder contributed.