The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued President Donald Trump and several White House officials on Wednesday over Truth Social’s new paid API, arguing it creates a $100,000-a-month fast lane to official government information.
The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan, centers on “Truth API,” a new Trump Media service that provides subscribers with real-time access to posts from Trump and other prominent accounts on the social platform.
The plaintiffs argue the arrangement gives customers who can afford the service faster access to information from the president and other government officials than journalists and the general public.
“President Donald Trump is charging $100,000 per month for advance access to his official government announcements on Truth Social, the social media platform he owns,” the complaint alleges. “This scheme is extraordinary, corrupt and unconstitutional.”
Truth API launched on Aug. 1 and costs $100,000 per month, per the complaint. Customers can also sign a three-year contract at $60,000 per month.
The service includes posts from Trump, the White House, Vice President JD Vance, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, FBI Director Kash Patel, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., among other officials.
Trump Media has promoted speed as a key selling point of the service. The complaint cites CEO Kevin McGurn saying “markets already move on Truth Social posts” and that Truth API gives subscribers access to the platform’s “most market-moving” content.
That difference could be particularly valuable to financial firms seeking to react quickly to statements from Trump about tariffs, government policy or individual companies, the plaintiffs argue.
McGurn said during an Aug. 10 earnings call that more than 10 customers had already subscribed to Truth API at prices ranging from $60,000 to $100,000 per month, according to the lawsuit.
But The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation argue the service raises a broader issue for the media: whether the president and his administration can use a privately owned social platform to distribute official government information while the company sells faster access to those communications.
The Intercept said access to Truth Social has become an important part of its reporting on the Trump administration. The news organization has referenced the platform in more than 800 articles, according to the complaint. The Freedom of the Press Foundation, meanwhile, maintains a database tracking Trump’s social media attacks on journalists and news organizations; it currently relies on a third-party scraping service to collect Trump’s Truth Social posts, including posts that are subsequently edited or deleted.
The complaint further alleges Trump Media has indicated that it plans to restrict third-party scraping of Truth Social, potentially making it harder for journalists, researchers and organizations to independently collect posts from the platform. The plaintiffs argue those restrictions, combined with Truth API, could leave news organizations with a choice between paying tens of thousands of dollars per month or receiving official information later than paying customers.
The lawsuit also points to Trump’s financial ties to Trump Media. Before returning to the White House, Trump transferred his shares in the company to a trust controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr., according to the complaint. Trump remains the trust’s sole beneficiary, the plaintiffs allege.
Trump Media is not itself a defendant in the case. The lawsuit instead names Trump in his official capacity, along with Scavino, Trump executive assistant Natalie Harp, the Executive Office of the President and the White House Office.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare unconstitutional the practice of posting official government information exclusively to Truth Social while the platform provides preferential access to paying customers. They are also seeking an injunction barring Trump and the other defendants from continuing the practice.
The White House and Trump Media did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.
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