Donald Trump’s hopes of cashing in by offering a paid head-start to his Truth Social posts have been dealt a blow after he was sued in an attempt to stop it.
Truth Social’s owner, Trump Media & Technology, launched the so-called “Truth API” service this month, charging financial firms up to $100,000 a month to view the president’s posts about U.S. policy on issues related to tariffs, war and other critical government matters, seconds faster than the rest of the world. Even the tiniest of advantages can be lucrative for Wall Street companies.
However, the lawsuit, filed on Wednesday in Manhattan federal court, alleges presidential pronouncements must reach the press and public simultaneously, and that failing to ensure that happens is a breach of the U.S. Constitution. Plaintiffs say the First Amendment should guarantee equal access to a president’s statements, and the Fifth Amendment bars attaching unreasonable conditions—like six-figure fees—to government benefits, and that the company should be forced to pull the service.
Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation, a plaintiff in the case along with news outlet The Intercept, said: “A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the benefit of a private company he controls is so blatantly corrupt and unconstitutional that it would have been hard to even fathom just a few years ago.”
The suit’s other defendants include Trump’s loyal executive assistant, Natalie Harp, 35, who often posts on his behalf and is rarely away from the president’s side, and his deputy chief of staff and former golf caddy, Dan Scavino, 50.
The legal action also targets a separate arrangement in which Truth Social is given six hours of exclusivity before Trump, 80, can post elsewhere. Plaintiffs want him barred from “posting official government information exclusively” on his own site.
The Truth API scheme was viewed as a lifeline for a company in freefall. It had a $238 million quarterly loss, with stock now under $10 from a high of $62 shortly after its market debut. Even just the 10 customers Trump Media said had already signed up, paying between $60,000–$100,000 a month, would bring in an estimated $7 million–$12 million a year.
The biggest stake in Trump Media belongs to the president himself, with AP reporting he holds more than 40 percent via a trust. The complaint itself, according to The Intercept, puts his stake at 52.1 percent when he retook office—worth $4 billion then, but only roughly $1 billion now.
Last month, Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff wrote to SEC Chair Paul Atkins asking whether Truth API breaches insider-trading and market-manipulation law, pointing to Trump posts that moved individual stocks.
Trump Media & Technology defended itself by saying the practice of selling early access to financial institutions is standard, and that the suit was a “left-wing” attempt to “censor” the president.
“Information from President Trump is disseminated by countless platforms and news outlets, many of which offer subscription APIs,” it said in a statement. “Now, left wing activists are trying to wrongfully weaponize the courts to censor him again and harm our shareholders.”
Yet even Wall Street executives are recoiling. “It’s insane,” one told NPR. “I can say for myself and 200 of my friends in finance, we’re not getting anywhere near this. In another administration, this would be considered criminal.”
The Daily Beast has approached Trump Media & Technology and the White House for comment.
