San Francisco sues Trump Media over alleged 'pay-to-play' Truth Social service
President Donald Trump's social media company is facing a lawsuit from the city of San Francisco over a paid Truth Social subscription service that gives certain customers early access to the president's posts.San Francisco City Attorney David Chiu announced the lawsuit Tuesday, alleging that Trump Media's Truth API service operates as a "pay-to-play scheme," allowing subscribers to receive President Donald Trump's market-moving posts before they are publicly available. The lawsuit seeks to block the service and impose civil penalties under California's Unfair Competition Law (UCL). Chiu alleged the service gives wealthy subscribers an "unfair advantage" by providing early access to government information before it reaches the broader public.TRUMP WARNS HE'LL BE 'LAST REPUBLICAN PRESIDENT' IF SENATE GOP DOESN'T MAKE MAJOR CHANGEPresident Donald Trump's social media company is facing a lawsuit from the city of San Francisco over a paid Truth Social subscription service that gives certain customers early access to the president's posts.(Anadolu via Getty Images)"Truth Social has knowingly created a marketplace for insider trading by giving high paying subscribers an unfair advantage over ordinary investors in the market," Chiu said at a Tuesday press conference.
"It's a pay-to-play scheme for early access to the president's market-moving government decisions."The monthly subscription was rolled out Aug.1 and costs between $60,000 to $100,000 in exchange for early access to market-moving posts from Truth Social accounts with large followings, including Trump’s own account."No ordinary person can pay that fee," Chiu said.
"Now the early subscribers are largely high-frequency trading firms with the technology to analyze that information and to make trades within microseconds."TRUMP ANNOUNCES WHITE HOUSE BAN AGAINST THREE MEDIA OUTLETSThe monthly subscription was rolled out Aug.1 and costs between $60,000 to $100,000.
(Anna Barclay/Getty Images)Chiu also said Trump...