Trump sued over Truth Social’s early-access feed as firm explores licensing data to prediction markets

President Donald Trump and several White House officials were sued Wednesday over a Truth Social service that gives paying customers faster access to potentially market-moving posts, all while Trump Media explores licensing the platform's data to prediction markets.

The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed the complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, alleging the service gives subscribers preferential access to official government announcements for up to $100,000 per month.

The lawsuit names Trump, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino, presidential executive assistant Natalie Harp, the Executive Office of the President and the White House Office as defendants.

The service, known as Truth API, delivers posts from Trump and other major Truth Social accounts faster than they become available to the public. Trump Media launched the service on Aug. 1 and has signed more than 10 customer agreements, primarily with high-frequency trading firms, according to interim CEO Kevin McGurn.

Those customers pay "in the range of $60,000 to $100,000 per month," McGurn said during the company’s second-quarter earnings call on Monday.

Trump Media is also now considering selling the data to prediction-market operators as another revenue source.

"We’re evaluating opportunities in the prediction market space for data licensing," McGurn said.

The company did not explain what data would be licensed or how prediction markets might use it. The lawsuit interpreted the plan as potentially facilitating bets on the president's announcements, though McGurn did not explicitly say that during the call.

Prediction market push

Trump Media has shifted away from developing its own prediction-market platform through Crypto.com. The companies are instead developing a marketing agreement to promote Crypto.com's prediction-market products to Truth Social users. Trump Media also plans to explore similar partnerships with other prediction markets, McGurn said.

The plaintiffs allege that Trump frequently uses Truth Social to announce government policies, personnel changes and military actions while holding roughly 41% of its parent company, Trump Media, through a trust controlled by his son, Donald Trump Jr.

McGurn defended Truth API during Monday's call, describing it as a feed of publicly available posts delivered "fractionally faster" than through other channels.

"Providing licensed real-time public data through commercial APIs is a well-established business practice," McGurn said.

The lawsuit follows a July 28 letter from Democratic Sens. Elizabeth Warren and Adam Schiff asking the Securities and Exchange Commission to investigate whether the service violates federal securities laws on insider trading or market manipulation.

The plaintiffs are seeking court declarations that the service is unconstitutional and require Trump to provide equal access to official posts.

Trump Media scales back crypto initiatives

Trump Media's prediction market push comes as the company scales back other crypto initiatives. Last week, Trump Media and Crypto.com terminated plans for a publicly traded CRO treasury company and ended the exchange's involvement in proposed Truth.Fi exchange-traded funds.

Trump Media also reported $360.6 million in unrealized and other accounting losses tied to digital assets during the first half of 2026. Its combined digital-asset holdings were valued at $597.7 million as of June 30, including 9,477 BTC worth $557.1 million and 756.1 million CRO worth $40.6 million.