President Donald Trump and White House aide Natalie Harp have been named as defendants in a federal lawsuit challenging Truth API, a Truth Social service that plaintiffs allege gives paying subscribers early access to official government announcements for up to $100,000 a month.
Watchdog groups American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability brought the case, alleging the arrangement gives paying customers earlier access to official government information than the wider public.
American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability filed the lawsuit on 17 September in the US District Court for the District of Columbia.
The complaint alleges that the arrangement violates the First Amendment, the Fifth Amendment, and the Paperwork Reduction Act by limiting timely and equitable public access to government information. The allegations are contained in the plaintiffs' complaint and have not been established by a court.
Why Trump and Natalie Harp Are Named in the Truth Social Lawsuit
Trump Media & Technology Group launched Truth API on 1 August, offering paying customers priority access to posts from Truth Social's 10 most-followed accounts.
According to the plaintiffs, the service costs $100,000 a month, or $60,000 a month for customers who sign three-year contracts.
The accounts identified in the complaint include those of President Trump, the White House Office, Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, and FBI Director Kash Patel.
The complaint also names the Executive Office of the President, the White House Office, and several federal agencies.
Harp is named in connection with her reported role in Trump's Truth Social activity. The complaint describes her as the 'primary White House staffer responsible' for helping Trump post on his account.
The plaintiffs argue that the case concerns the use of Truth Social for official government communications, rather than solely the commercial sale of social media data.
Could $100,000 Truth API Subscribers Get a Market-Moving Head Start?
The watchdog groups allege that Trump's Truth Social posts have been used to announce major government actions and policy decisions that can affect financial markets. The complaint says Truth API subscribers receive potentially market-moving posts before the wider public. Trump Media describes the service as a licensed, low-latency feed of publicly available Truth Social posts.
The complaint states that information distributed through official Truth Social accounts can have 'significant consequences for the global economy'.
The complaint further alleges that subscribers could profit from receiving market-moving posts ahead of the public.
Trump Media has defended Truth API by pointing to how quickly markets can respond to Truth Social posts.
In announcing the service, Trump Media interim CEO Kevin McGurn said, 'Markets already move on Truth Social posts.'
Trump Media has rejected the suggestion that Truth API provides customers with secret information. McGurn has said the service delivers machine-readable feeds of publicly available Truth Social posts and gives customers access 'fractionally faster'.
The lawsuit asks the court to determine whether the arrangement unlawfully gives paying customers preferential access to official government information.
What the Lawsuit Claims About Trump and Natalie Harp
American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability argue that government information should not effectively be placed behind a premium subscription wall.
Their complaint challenges the arrangement under constitutional and federal law, claiming that paying customers receive preferential access while ordinary members of the public must wait.
The lawsuit also points to Trump's financial connection to Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social. The plaintiffs say Trump's revocable trust, controlled by his son Donald Trump Jr., owns roughly 41% of the company and is its largest shareholder.
American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability have described the arrangement as 'textbook pay to play' and argue that it creates unequal access to presidential communications. That characterisation is the plaintiffs' allegation, not a court finding.
The lawsuit also names Scavino, the Executive Office of the President, the White House Office, Kennedy, Duffy, Patel and several federal agencies.
The plaintiffs are asking the court to declare the Truth Social API arrangement unconstitutional and unlawful and to bar defendants from posting official government information first or exclusively through accounts covered by the service.
The lawsuit contains allegations that have not been established by a court, and no court has ruled that Trump, Harp or the other defendants violated the Constitution or federal law.
