Federal lawsuit alleges Trump administration sold early access to presidential posts on Truth Social
Select a version of the text written from a presumed ideological perspective. This is not the original text, but a hypothetical version — how someone with that viewpoint might have phrased it. Tapping the current version again will return to the original or select cleaned version.
Press groups claim the Trump administration violated the First Amendment by offering paid early access to presidential messages on Truth Social, prompting a lawsuit in New York federal court.
A federal complaint filed in the Southern District of New York accuses the Trump administration of violating the First Amendment by selling advance access to posts on the Truth Social platform before they become public. The lawsuit, brought by the Freedom of the Press Foundation and The Intercept and represented by legal teams from CREW, Yale Law School, the Public Integrity Project and Altshuler Berzon LLC, argues that the scheme allows the president to profit from government information.
The complaint states that the First Amendment guarantees equal access to presidential announcements and that any content-neutral restrictions must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest, which it says is absent in this case. It also cites Department of Justice policy prohibiting the use of official position for personal benefit.
Truth Social’s parent company, Trump Media & Technology Group, announced a "Truth API" service that would provide early access to presidential messages for up to $100,000 per month, with at least ten customers reportedly signed up. The president holds a 41% stake in the company, held in a trust controlled by his son.
White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt previously said that posts on Truth Social come directly from the president and reflect the administration’s policies. The White House has not responded to requests for comment on the lawsuit.
Public Integrity Project CEO Brendan Ballou said the effort to monetize public statements “is about as blatant as a constitutional violation can get.” Senators Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff have urged the Securities and Exchange Commission to examine whether the company may be breaching securities laws, describing the practice as an abuse of the president’s office.