Trump Sued Over Sale of Priority Access to Truth Social Posts
New York City (ANTARA) - United States (US) President Donald Trump was sued by two media organisations on Wednesday (12/8) over a controversial service that sells earlier access to his posts on Truth Social.
The plaintiffs, US news outlet The Intercept and non-profit organisation Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), allege that the paid Truth Social service violates two provisions of the Constitution: the First Amendment right to access the president’s comments on equal terms with members of the press and the general public, and the Fifth Amendment prohibition on imposing unreasonable conditions for obtaining benefits from the government.
The plaintiffs argue that delayed access to the president’s statements will harm their ability to produce or support journalistic work, as reported by The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday.
“A president selling priority access to news he himself generates for the profit of a private company he controls is a flagrantly corrupt and unconstitutional act that no one could have imagined just a few years ago,” said Seth Stern, head of advocacy at FPF.
“Nothing is more antithetical to the spirit of a free and independent press than a president charging a fee for earlier access to his public announcements,” said David Bralow, general counsel of The Intercept.
The paid Truth Social service, called Truth API, allows subscribers to receive Trump’s posts several seconds before they appear to the general public.
In an effort to block the plan, the two organisations stated that those moments are crucial given that Trump’s posts often influence stocks, oil and other financial markets with announcements regarding government policy, military action and other decisions, as seen in the conflict in the Middle East and the reimplementation of US tariff policy.
Many large investment firms have developed automated systems to monitor Truth Social, detect key words and take action, often within seconds, such as opening or closing positions, according to The Wall Street Journal report, citing traders.
The Wall Street Journal’s review of trading data showed how quickly some traders react to the president’s online comments. According to data from DTN, a global data and technology company, investors traded more than 2 million shares within one minute of two Trump posts about Iran in June. That trading activity triggered fluctuations of more than 2 per cent in nearly two dozen energy and industrial sector stocks.
According to a BBC report, the plaintiffs argue that the arrangement unfairly benefits those who can afford to pay, creating a system in which market-sensitive information reaches paying users first.
Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the parent company of Truth Social, announced that Truth API charges up to 100,000 US dollars (1 US dollar = Rp17,882) per month for early access to 10 prominent Truth Social accounts, including Trump’s own account, or 60,000 US dollars per month if users subscribe for three years.
Trump has the largest number of followers on the platform, with around 13 million followers, while his eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., ranks second with around 7.5 million followers.
Other accounts offered through Truth API include those of US Vice President JD Vance, US Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., FBI Director Kash Patel, and the White House itself, according to the complaint documents.
The service was launched at a time when TMTG, a public company, has been recording losses of hundreds of millions of dollars each quarter and its share price has plunged to below 10 US dollars from 62 US dollars shortly after its stock market debut two years ago.
Trump is the largest shareholder of TMTG, with a 41.3 per cent stake worth around 950 million US dollars, held through his Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust. His eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., serves as a director of TMTG and manages the trust, while the president is the sole beneficiary of the trust, the BBC report stated.
Even before the new API service was launched, ethics watchdogs had criticised Trump’s Truth Social posts as a blatant attempt to profit from the presidency, linking them to various other commercial ventures, including those related to cryptocurrency. According to an AP report, earlier this year the president submitted his mandatory annual financial disclosure showing that he had earned more than 1 billion US dollars in 2025 from new crypto businesses that fall under his administration’s regulation.
The Wall Street Journal reported that a number of trading firms were among the first customers of the service, with more than 10 customers having signed up. In this business, the ability to access data nanoseconds faster than competitors can provide a significant advantage.
“This scheme is deeply corrupt,” the two organisations stated in their complaint. “The president potentially stands to profit financially by providing ‘market-moving’ government information to those willing and able to pay his private company.”
The plan has also drawn criticism from Democratic lawmakers, who have urged an investigation into the service by the US Securities and Exchange Commission.