President Donald Trump is facing a federal lawsuit that seeks to block his Truth Social company from profiting from a new subscription service that offers early access to his posts on U.S. policy decisions. The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in the Southern District of New York, alleges that the practice of selling priority access to information about war, tariffs, and other policy matters violates the Constitution by making official announcements available to the public at different times.
The suit was brought by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and the news outlet The Intercept. They contend that Trump Media & Technology Group's new service, dubbed "Truth API," which allows paying firms, such as Wall Street companies, to receive Trump's posts up to six hours before they are made public, infringes on the public's First Amendment right to access presidential statements on equal terms. The plaintiffs also argue it violates the Fifth Amendment's prohibition against charging unreasonable conditions for government benefits.
"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," said Seth Stern, chief of advocacy at the Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The lawsuit names President Trump, along with his deputy chief of staff Daniel Scavino and executive assistant Natalie J. Harp, as defendants. It seeks to end both the Truth API service and Trump Media's general exclusive access deal.
Trump Media has defended the service, stating that fast access to information is common in its industry. In a statement, the company accused the plaintiffs of being "left wing activists" attempting to "wrongfully weaponize the courts to censor him again and harm our shareholders." The company also noted that many platforms and news outlets offer subscription APIs for information dissemination.
The rollout of the Truth API comes as Trump Media, a publicly traded company, has reported significant financial losses. The company's stock has fallen substantially since it went public, trading below $10 after an initial high of $62 two years ago.
Prior to the launch of the API service, ethics watchdogs had already criticized Trump's use of Truth Social, viewing it as an attempt to monetize his presidency. Financial disclosures earlier this year revealed that Trump earned over $1 billion from new cryptocurrency businesses regulated by his administration. Additionally, his digital finance company, World Liberty Financial, reportedly received a $500 million investment from an entity linked to the United Arab Emirates government and sold hundreds of millions of dollars worth of "Trump meme coins" to supporters.