Media groups sue Trump over paid access to public social media posts

The publication The Intercept and the nonprofit Freedom of the Press Foundation have filed a federal lawsuit against United States President Donald Trump to block his social media service from selling advance access to his posts.

Court filings on Wednesday argue that the subscription-based service would restrict access to matters of public interest.

“This scheme is profoundly corrupt,” the complaint reads. “The president stands to gain financially by giving ‘market-moving’ government information to those who are willing and able to pay his personal company.”

The lawsuit cites the right to a free press under the US Constitution and argues that the plan would violate the First Amendment’s implicit guarantees of “equal access to the President’s public announcements”.

It also claims that the subscription service would run afoul of the Fifth Amendment’s protections, which it says restrict the government from charging arbitrary sums to access government information.

The complaint names Trump in an official capacity, along with White House aide Natalie Harp and Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Scavino.

The lawsuit centres on Truth API, which was announced in July and launched on August 1.

The subscription service, a product of the Trump Media and Technology Group, charges subscribers between $60,000 and $100,000 a month for real-time access to posts from Trump and other prominent accounts on Truth Social, the group’s social media platform.

More than 10 customers had already subscribed as of an August 10 earnings call, according to the complaint.

Critics have pointed out that Trump uses his Truth Social account to announce policy changes that could have effects on the economy. Trump’s comments, for instance, about the US-Israel war on Iran have sent ripples through global oil markets.

Trump holds the largest stake in the Trump Media and Technology Group, worth roughly $1bn, down from about $4bn when it was placed in a trust in early 2025.

“Trump is trying to enrich himself by privatizing government information that he has no right to sell,” The Intercept editor-in-chief Ben Muessig said. “We won’t let it stand.”

Trump Media said in a statement that presidential communications already flow through “countless platforms and news outlets, many of which offer subscription APIs”.

The White House has not commented on the dispute. The lawsuit is set to be heard in a federal court for the Southern District of New York.