San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu said the president’s media company is likely violating federal law by selling investors faster access to his Truth Social posts.

Sep 22, 2026

Updated 12:27 pm PT

City Attorney David Chiu speaks at a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2026, about a lawsuit his office filed against Truth Social over the sale of early access to President Donald Trump’s posts. The city attorney’s lawsuit alleges a new service, Trump API, violates California’s fair competition law.  (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

San Francisco is suing President Donald Trump’s media company over a paid service that gives subscribers who pay $100,000 a month early access to the president’s Truth Social posts.

City Attorney David Chiu filed the lawsuit in San Francisco Superior Court on Monday against Trump Media and Technology Group, which owns and operates Truth Social. 

Chiu is asking the court to prohibit Trump Media from offering “Truth API” or a similar service, as well as monetary damages for its violations of the public trust and California’s unfair competition law.

“Trump Media created a marketplace that enables insider trading, which Trump directly profits from,” Chiu said in a statement. “This scheme turns the public trust into private profit. It is corruption, plain and simple.”

U.S. President Donald Trump addresses the nation from the East Room of the White House on July 16, 2026, in Washington, D.C. (Saul Loeb/Pool – Getty Images)

Chiu’s office, along with other attorneys, including from the Democracy Defenders Fund, filed the suit on behalf of the people of California, who he said are being disadvantaged by the corrupt business practice. He said that he hopes that the court’s decision “could hopefully protect all Americans” in the process.

In August, Trump launched “Truth API,” a feed that delivers posts from the “ten most influential accounts” on his social media platform, Truth Social, to users who pay $100,000 a month, before the same information is delivered to other users. 

According to the lawsuit, Trump Media Interim CEO Kevin McGurn “expressly stated that Truth API pushes out information at a ‘50 millisecond advantage’ that ‘goes right into an algorithmic trading platform,’” allowing subscribers to gain an advantage in the financial market by trading on that information.

Theresa Rutherford, president of SEIU Local 1021, speaks at a press conference at City Hall in San Francisco on Sept. 22, 2026, about a lawsuit against Truth Social over the sale of early access to President Donald Trump’s posts. (Beth LaBerge/KQED)

“When the President of the United States makes decisions that can move markets, access to that information should not be something wealthy traders can buy before everyone else,” said Matt Platkin, whose firm, Platkin LLP, is also representing California residents in the suit. “Trump Media should not be able to monetize presidential communications by selling Wall Street an early look at Truth Social posts.

In a statement, Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Device said, “The People of California should outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots who, unlike the left-wing activists masquerading as attorneys who filed this lawsuit, will grasp the basic distinction between public and nonpublic information.”

Last month, The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation filed a similar lawsuit in federal court aimed at stopping Trump Media from monetizing official government statements.

KQED’s Brian Krans contributed to this report.