On July 16, Trump Media unveiled Truth API, a new service that provides faster access to posts from President Donald Trump and other senior administration officials on Truth Social. The service launched August 1 at a cost of up to $100,000 per month.
The company marketed the service to organizations seeking an edge from “market-moving” posts generated by the president and his administration.
A coalition of legal advocates, including representatives from the Freedom of the Press Foundation (FPF), has sued Trump and several White House officials on August 12. They allege that Truth API violates the First and Fifth Amendments by giving paying customers preferential access to government information.
Seth Stern, FPF Chief of Advocacy, stated: “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.”
He added that the arrangement forces journalists to “wait in line behind paying customers” for posts that may include attacks on the press, threatened lawsuits, or calls for criminal investigations.
The key advantage of Truth API is not access but speed. Trump Media claims the feed delivers posts in “milliseconds” and formats them for direct use by automated systems. This makes it particularly valuable to algorithmic trading firms that can act on new information before human users open notifications.
Trump Media described the service as: “Until now, no official, integrated API has existed, and firms that prioritize tracking influential Truth Social posts have relied on manual monitoring. Truth API closes the gap for organizations that place a premium on immediate, verified access to information.”
The feed covers 10 of Truth Social’s most popular accounts, including President Donald Trump, Vice President JD Vance, the White House, FBI Director Kash Patel, former White House Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Trump Media also offers a historical archive dating back to 2022, which ordinary users cannot easily access. The company has moved to make automated collection of Truth Social posts more difficult.
Interim CEO Kevin McGurn stated: “Markets already move on Truth Social posts.” He added that Trump Media intended to create “a lot of friction” for outside services that scrape the platform rather than license its data directly.
By August 10, McGurn reported over 10 subscribers, mostly high-frequency trading firms paying between $60,000 and $100,000 per month. Trump Media was also in talks with cloud-computing firms, AI companies, and news organizations.
The lawsuit argues that the problem is not merely that Trump Media sells faster data but that the company can profit from official presidential information because President Trump continues to deliver government announcements through Truth Social.
The complaint states: “The Constitution guarantees that public officials ‘can themselves have no pecuniary interest or proprietorship, as against the public at large, in the fruits of their [official] labors.’… The President is profiting by selling government information. That is illegal.”
It further alleges that Trump is giving “market-moving government information to those who are willing and able to pay his personal company.”
This arrangement becomes more valuable because the president uses Truth Social for official business. The subscriptions, it adds, “directly benefit President Trump, who owns 41.4% of Trump Media.” At the time of filing, his nearly 115 million shares were valued at about $950 million.
The lawsuit also notes that Trump Media has told investors that its success depends heavily on Trump’s popularity and continued use of Truth Social. The president has an agreement directing him to post certain communications first on Truth Social.
Trump Media denies the allegations, arguing that Trump’s posts remain public and that companies routinely charge for faster delivery of public information.
The complaint focuses on four constitutional claims:
1) First Amendment protection of equal access to presidential statements;
2) Unconstitutional burden on a public forum when the president uses Truth Social for government business;
3) Violation of the unconstitutional conditions doctrine; and
4) A Fifth Amendment equal protection claim.
The case hinges on whether Trump’s posts constitute government action. The complaint cites military operations, tariffs, personnel changes, and domestic policy announcements as examples. It also notes that White House aides help manage the account.
The lawsuit seeks to stop White House officials from posting official government information exclusively on Truth Social while the platform sells preferential access through Truth API.
In practical terms, the lawsuit targets the government side of the arrangement, not the private data service itself.
It comes amid a larger context: Trump’s business income and revenue have skyrocketed during his first year in office. His 2025 financial disclosure reported at least $2.2 billion in total earnings, nearly four times the roughly $622 million from 2024. More than $1.4 billion came from cryptocurrency ventures.
Ethics experts describe this level of presidential monetization as unprecedented. Trump and his administration reject conflict of interest accusations, maintaining compliance with applicable laws.
Veronika Kyrylenko is a writer with a passion for holding the powerful accountable, no matter their political affiliation. With a Ph.D. in Political Science from Odessa National University (Ukraine), she brings a sharp analytical eye to domestic and foreign policy, international relations, the economy, and healthcare.