San Francisco has filed a lawsuit against Trump Media & Technology Group, charging that the company's sale of early access to President Donald Trump's social media posts represents a "corrupt business scheme" that breaks both California and federal law. According to a complaint filed today in California state court, the Truth API service violates California's Unfair Competition Law as well as federal ethics and anti-corruption statutes banning insider trading. The service charges select clients $100,000 monthly for advance access to posts from the 10 most influential Truth Social accounts, including Trump's and those of other White House officials.
The lawsuit details how Trump's announcements on Truth Social directly affect financial markets, with the company's interim CEO Kevin McGurn acknowledging that "markets already move on Truth Social posts." On August 21st, Trump announced the federal government would "lower the price of ground beef for working families" by exempting certain ground beef imports from tariffs, and when markets opened hours later, cattle futures dropped significantly, the complaint states. Trump Media reported a net loss exceeding $238 million earlier this year, and the lawsuit alleges the API service is a way to make the struggling company profitable. Under Trump's agreement with Trump Media, Truth Social maintains a six-hour exclusivity window on his posts, preventing him from sharing identical content on other platforms during that period.
San Francisco city attorney David Chiu said in a Tuesday press conference that "in today's markets, early access means millions of dollars. This business scheme has turned public trust into private property." The complaint asserts that Trump Media has "unlawfully created, priced, marketed, and operated a commercial mechanism that knowingly and willfully facilitates Trump's use of nonpublic information for private profit." Beyond breaking insider trading regulations, the suit argues, Truth API puts everyday investors at a disadvantage by placing financially valuable information behind a paywall. The complaint references reports of hedge fund executives who say they feel compelled to purchase the service despite believing it carries legal risk.
The city is asking a judge to prohibit Trump Media from offering Truth API or similar services, and to levy a $2,500 fine for each violation of California's Unfair Competition Law. Trump Media hasn't revealed its list of Truth API customers, though the company has indicated it intends to market the product to AI companies and major news organizations. This marks the second lawsuit against Truth API—in August, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a joint case in New York federal court, calling the product "extraordinary, corrupt, and unconstitutional." The legal challenges threaten to shut down a revenue stream the company appears to be counting on to offset its substantial losses. The central question is whether selling access to presidential communications that move markets crosses the line from aggressive monetization to illegal insider trading, a determination that could reshape how platforms handle government officials' posts.