FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Legal Storm Brews Over "Truth API": Media Outlets Sue President Trump Over Alleged Pay-for-Access Government Information Scheme
NEW YORK, NY – October 23, 2024 – President Donald Trump is facing a formidable legal challenge today, as a prominent media outlet and a non-profit freedom of the press organization have filed a lawsuit seeking to halt a controversial new service offering advance notifications of his Truth Social posts. The lawsuit, lodged in the U.S. District Court in Manhattan, alleges that the service, dubbed Truth API, constitutes a "corrupt and unconstitutional" scheme that allows President Trump to profit from selling access to official government information.
The plaintiffs, The Intercept Media, a news organization, and the Freedom of the Press Association, a non-profit group, argue that President Trump’s posts on his personal social media platform, Truth Social, frequently influence financial markets with announcements pertaining to government policy, military actions, and other critical decisions. The civil suit directly states, "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 pulls no punches, asserting, "This scheme is extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional, and Plaintiffs bring this case to stop it. There is no legitimate interest, let alone a significant one, in permitting President Trump to profit from selling government information."
The lawsuit contends that Truth API infringes upon the First and Fifth Amendments of the U.S. Constitution by granting subscribers preferential access to Trump’s public announcements in exchange for "unreasonable sums." Trump Media, the parent company of Truth Social, announced in July its intention to offer early access to "market-moving" posts from President Trump and other prominent users of the platform, with subscription fees reaching up to $100,000 per month. It is widely known that President Trump is the largest shareholder in Trump Media through the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust.
Currently, Truth API offers expedited access to posts from the 10 most popular accounts on Truth Social. Beyond President Trump himself, these accounts include official government entities and high-ranking officials such as the White House, Vice President JD Vance, FBI Director Kash Patel, White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy.
The lawsuit underscores the profound corruption it believes this system embodies, stating, "The President stands to gain financially by giving ‘market-moving’ government information to those who are willing and able to pay his personal company."
Since his return to office in January 2025, President Trump has reportedly published between 9,000 and 11,000 posts on Truth Social. The complaint highlights a critical concern: "Often his posts have no immediate corresponding announcement from the White House. In other words, President Trump’s posts are the only way to get official government news."
During a quarterly earnings conference call on Monday, Trump Media CEO Kevin McGurn provided details on Truth API, noting that it "provides machine-readable feeds of publicly available Truth posts from the platform’s top accounts in milliseconds." He further elaborated, "Our customers will get published and publicly available posts fractionally faster."
McGurn confirmed that Trump Media has already secured over 10 customer agreements for Truth API, generally within the $60,000 to $100,000 per month range. He also indicated that the company is engaged in discussions with hyperscalers, major news organizations, and developers of large language models regarding the service. Looking ahead, McGurn stated, "we expect the next phase of the API to include broader third-party distribution, for example, news feeds, financial data terminals, and specialty publications, which we believe will bring more visibility to this business over time."
The lawsuit not only names President Trump as a defendant but also includes his executive assistant, Natalie Harp, and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, both known for posting on Truth Social on the President’s behalf. Additionally, the Executive Office of the President and the White House Office are listed as defendants.
This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.
