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President Trump sued over paid posts
Published : Thursday, 13 August, 2026 at 6:35 PM
Observer Online Report
President of the United States Donald Trump was sued by media groups to block his social media services from selling advance access to his posts.
A federal lawsuit was filed on Wednesday by the publication, The Intercept, and the non-profit, Freedom of the Press Foundation.
The court filings argue that access to matters of public interest is being restricted by the subscription-based services.
The complaint accuses the President’s scheme of ‘’being corrupt”, as the president stands to gain financially by divulging government information that could “move the market” in exchange for paying his personal company.
Citing the right to free press under the US Constitution, the lawsuit argues that the plan would violate the First Amendment’s implicit guarantees of “equal access to the President’s public announcements”.
But it doesn’t end there, as the lawsuit claims that the subscription service would run afoul og the Fifth Amendment’s protection, which restricts the government from charging arbitrary sums to access government information.
The complaint names Trump in an official capacity, alongside White House aide Natalie Harp and Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Scavino.
Truth API, which the lawsuit centers around, was announced in July and launched a month later.
Its subscription services, which charges subscribers between $60,000 and $100,000 a month, in exchange for real-time access to posts from the President and other prominent accounts on Truth Social.
Critics pointed out that Trump is using Truth Social to announce policy changes that could affect the economy, such as his comments on the US-Israel war on Iran which sent ripples through the global oil trade, and locked it behind a massive paywall.
“Trump is trying to enrich himself by privatizing government information that he has no right to sell,” said Ben Muessig, editor-in-chief of The Intercept. “We won’t let it stand.”
The White House has yet to comment on the dispute. The lawsuit is set to be heard in a federal court for the Southern District of New York.
-NS
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Editor : Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury
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Published by the Editor on behalf of the Observer Ltd. from Globe Printers, 24/A, New Eskaton Road, Ramna, Dhaka.
Editorial, News and Commercial Offices : Aziz Bhaban (2nd floor), 93, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000.
Phone: PABX- 41053001-06; Advertisement: 41053012; 01793317829, 01550707291, E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] Online: email: [email protected] 41053014; 01550707297 Advertisement: 01550707296
