A lawsuit has been filed against Donald Trump over a subscription service that charges up to $100,000 a month for early access to his posts on Truth Social, with the plaintiffs alleging the arrangement is corrupt and unconstitutional.
The complaint, lodged in the US district court for the southern district of New York, was brought by The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation. It names Trump, two of his aides, and the executive office of the president as defendants.
Targeting the 'Truth API'
The lawsuit targets “Truth API”, a paid data feed launched on 1 August by Trump Media & Technology Group, the company behind Truth Social. The complaint describes the service as “extraordinary, corrupt and unconstitutional”.
According to the filing, the service provides paying subscribers with faster access than the general public to posts from 10 of the platform’s most prominent accounts, including Trump’s own account, Vice-President JD Vance, press secretary Karoline Leavitt, and other senior officials. Subscribers pay $100,000 per month, or $60,000 per month under a three-year commitment.
The White House and Trump Media did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Market-Sensitive Disclosures and Revenue Push
Trump has a documented history of using Truth Social to disclose market-sensitive news, including posts on tariffs and the war on Iran, which have caused fluctuations in stock and oil prices. Trump Media’s interim chief executive, Kevin McGurn, has promoted the service as a way for businesses to gain fast access to the platform’s “most market-moving” posts, describing it as a “high-margin” product intended to provide a “meaningful, ongoing source of revenue”.
The launch followed criticism from Democratic senators Adam Schiff and Elizabeth Warren, who had urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service constituted market manipulation that benefits insiders at the expense of ordinary investors.
Subscribers and Profit Motive
According to the complaint, Trump Media disclosed on 10 August that it already had more than 10 subscribers, reportedly including financial news outlets and high-frequency trading firms. The company is also exploring licensing the data to prediction markets while working to block third-party tools that allow outside groups to scrape and archive Trump’s posts.
The plaintiffs argue that Trump, who remains Trump Media’s largest shareholder with a stake worth roughly $1bn, stands to personally profit from selling privileged access to information generated in his official capacity.
Historical Record and Legal Action
The suit also raises concerns about the historical record. Truth API subscribers gain access to an archive of posts dating back to 2022, including ones later deleted or altered. McGurn has said the company intends “to create a lot of friction for those folks that aren’t coming to us directly”.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the arrangement unlawful and to bar the administration from relying on Truth Social as the exclusive venue for official announcements while it sells preferential access to that information.
