Nonprofit news groups sue Trump over paid Truth Social API that offers early access to presidential posts
The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation have filed a lawsuit in New York federal court alleging that Trump Media's paid API gives high-frequency traders preferential, low-latency access to presidential announcements, violating the First and Fifth Amendments.
A federal lawsuit filed in the Southern District of New York by The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation claims that Trump Media & Technology Group’s new “Truth API” sells real-time access to posts from President Donald Trump and other top users of the Truth Social platform. The plaintiffs say the service charges up to $100,000 a month, primarily to high-frequency trading firms, for a low-latency, machine-readable feed of presidential announcements that can affect financial markets.
The complaint argues that posting official government information exclusively on Truth Social while monetizing early access through the API imposes an unconstitutional burden on the public’s right to equal access to presidential statements. It cites the First Amendment’s guarantee of equal access to public announcements and the Fifth Amendment’s prohibition on unreasonable charges for government benefits.
“The First Amendment guarantees equal access to the President’s public announcements, and even content-neutral burdens on that access must be narrowly tailored to serve a significant government interest,” the lawsuit states.
The suit also seeks an injunction to prevent the president and his aides from posting official government information solely on Truth Social while the paid API remains in operation. Named defendants include Trump’s executive assistant Natalie Harp, deputy chief of staff Daniel Scavino, the Executive Office of the President, and the White House Office.
Trump Media reported $1.7 million in revenue and a net loss of $238.1 million for the second quarter, with interim CEO Kevin McGurn saying the company has signed more than ten customers, mostly trading firms paying $60,000 to $100,000 per month. McGurn indicated the firm is also pursuing cloud-computing companies, large news organizations, and developers of large-language models, and eventually plans to offer the API to retail investors.
The plaintiffs contend that the API will also restrict access to archived posts, forcing users to subscribe in order to retrieve deleted or edited content that would otherwise be publicly available. They argue this practice harms nonprofit news outlets by delaying or denying access to presidential statements needed for reporting.
The White House has not responded to requests for comment.