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The Intercept<\/span> and the Freedom of the Press Foundation sued President Donald Trump and his staff Wednesday, challenging a Trump-owned media company\u2019s plan to monetize the president\u2019s social media posts.<\/p>\n The lawsuit is in response to a scheme announced last month by the parent company of Trump\u2019s Truth Social platform to charge as much as $100,000 per month for early access to the president\u2019s posts.\u00a0<\/p>\n By offering preferred access to presidential missives, the monetization plan, dubbed \u201cTruth API,\u201d 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.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n \u201cTrump is trying to enrich himself by privatizing government information that he has no right to sell,\u201d said Ben Muessig, editor-in-chief of The Intercept. \u201cWe won\u2019t let it stand.\u201d<\/p>\n The complaint filed in the Southern District of New York also asserts that the monetization scheme, which it described as an \u201cout-and-out plan of extortion,\u201d would violate the Fifth Amendment by charging \u201cunreasonable sums\u201d for equal access to government information and by undermining the right to equal protection under the law.<\/p>\n \u201cThis lawsuit seeks to vindicate the principle that the president of the United States cannot profit from the official government statements of the president,\u201d said Nikhel Sus, Chief Counsel for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which provided legal support for the lawsuit. \u201cEvery American is entitled to equal access to the president\u2019s public statements. Individuals who pay $100,000 to the president\u2019s personal company do not have any greater entitlement to those public statements.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cEvery American is entitled to equal access to the president\u2019s public statements.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<\/figure>\n Truth API is part of a broader effort to bring Trump Media & Technology Group into the black. Despite a steep up-front cost ranging from $60,000 to $100,000 per month, the company\u2019s interim CEO Kevin McGurn has been explicit about the potential dividends awaiting customers willing to pay \u2014 and the potential gain for Trump and other shareholders.<\/p>\n \u201cTruth API delivers a direct, licensed, real-time feed of the platform\u2019s most market-moving Truths while advancing our strategy to monetize proprietary assets through a high-margin, recurring revenue stream,\u201d McGurn said in a July 16 press release<\/a>. \u201cAs adoption grows, we expect Truth API to become a meaningful, ongoing source of revenue for the company, creating lasting value for shareholders.\u201d<\/p>\n No shareholder stands to benefit more than Trump, who holds the largest single stake in the company through a trust established when he retook the White House in January 2025. At the time, his 52.1 percent stake in the company was valued at $4 billion. The company\u2019s stock has plunged in value since entering the market, causing the value of Trump\u2019s stake to fall to around $1 billion, according to the complaint.\u00a0<\/p>\n In addition to the president, the lawsuit names as defendants Trump\u2019s executive assistant Natalie Harp, White House Deputy Chief of Staff Daniel Scavino, the Executive Office of the President, and the White House Office. Representatives for the defendants and for Trump Media did not immediately respond to a request for comment.<\/p>\n\n