A photo illustration shows President Donald Trump's account on social media platform Truth Social in 2024. The Intercept is suing the company's plan to monetize the president's posts. File Photo by Will Oliver/EPA
Aug. 12 (UPI) -- Online news site The Intercept, along with the Freedom of the Press Foundation, sued President Donald Trump and members of his staff Wednesday to challenge their plan to monetize the president's posts on Truth Social.
The organizations allege that the scheme would "violate the First Amendment rights of journalists and other members of the public to equal access to official information, the lawsuit argues, while allowing Trump to trade his public statements for cold hard cash," The Intercept reported.
On Aug. 1, Trump launched the plan, "Truth API," which would give early access to subscribers -- for $100,000 per month -- to his posts on Truth Social, the social media company that he owns through Trump Media.
"Markets already move on Truth Social posts," interim CEO Kevin McGurn said in a July 16 press release. "Truth API delivers a direct, licensed, real-time feed of the platform's most market-moving Truths while advancing our strategy to monetize proprietary assets through a high-margin, recurring revenue stream. As adoption grows, we expect Truth API to become a meaningful, ongoing source of revenue for the company, creating lasting value for shareholders."
