Lawsuit against Trump over service offering early access to his posts for a fee

Two media organizations filed a lawsuit against U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday, seeking to end a new service that offers early access to his posts on his Truth Social platform for a fee, including some posts that could affect financial markets.

The lawsuit, brought by The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation, challenges the “Truth API” service, offered by the Trump Media & Technology Group, which charges fees of up to $100,000 per month for early access to ten key accounts on Truth Social, including Trump’s own account.

Truth API was launched on August 1, four days after Democratic Senators Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Adam Schiff of California urged the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service undermines the integrity of financial markets while enriching Wall Street, Trump, and wealthy insiders.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Other White House officials are also named as defendants in the case, but Trump Media is not among them.

Trump routinely uses Truth Social to disseminate news, including updates on tariffs and Middle East conflicts, which can influence stock, oil, and other market prices.

The Wednesday lawsuit seeks to bar the White House from posting official government advertisements exclusively on Truth Social as long as access to those posts is subject to fees.

The complaint alleges that the service violates the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, asserting that everyone has the right to equal access to Trump’s statements and that there is no legitimate government interest in selling Trump’s posts to private subscribers and allowing him to profit. According to the complaint, between 9,000 and 11,000 posts that Trump either originally published or reposted on Truth Social during his second term in the White House were not accompanied by any official White House statements.