Key facts
- A lawsuit challenges Truth Social's Truth API service, which provides early access to posts from top users.
- The service charges subscribers up to $100,000 per month.
- The lawsuit alleges the service is "profoundly corrupt" and unconstitutional, violating the First and Fifth Amendments.
- The suit claims President Trump profits from selling "market-moving" government information.
- Trump Media's interim CEO stated over 10 customers, mainly high-frequency trading firms, have signed up.
President Donald Trump is facing a new lawsuit over a service for his social media platform, Truth Social, that charges subscribers up to $100,000 a month for early access to his posts and those of other prominent users. The lawsuit, filed in Manhattan federal court by The Intercept Media and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, alleges that the sale of faster access to what Trump Media's interim CEO has called "market-moving" posts is "profoundly corrupt" and illegal.
The suit claims that Trump "stands to gain financially by giving 'market-moving' government information to those who are willing and able to pay his personal company." It asserts that the scheme is "extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional."
Last month, Trump Media announced the launch of Truth API, a business-to-business data feed designed to provide customers with faster access to posts from the platform's highest-ranking accounts, including Trump's. In Trump Media's first earnings call, interim CEO Kevin McGurn stated that since the announcement, the company has signed more than 10 customers, primarily high-frequency trading firms, at monthly rates ranging from $60,000 to $100,000. McGurn also indicated active conversations with hyperscalers, major news organizations, and developers for data licensing opportunities.
McGurn explained that Trump API provides a machine-readable feed of publicly available Truth Social posts from top accounts in milliseconds, giving customers "published and publicly available posts fractionally faster." The lawsuit criticizes the service as an "illegal scheme" that violates the First and Fifth Amendments, stating there is "no legitimate interest" in allowing President Trump to profit from selling government information.