Trump Media sued by San Francisco over Truth Social access

The city of San Francisco has sued Trump Media & Technology Group, accusing the Truth Social owner of enabling insider trading by selling Wall Street traders priority access to posts by US President Donald Trump and other influential accounts.

City Attorney David Chiu filed the complaint on Monday in a San Francisco court against Trump Media, which is 41 percent owned by Trump.

The suit targets Truth API, a paid feed launched this summer. The service costs up to $100,000 a month and lets subscribers see posts from Trump, Vice President JD Vance and other influential accounts a fraction of a second before the general public.

San Francisco argues that the head start gives algorithmic trading firms an edge in analysing announcements that could move markets. The city is invoking California's unfair competition law and says residents with money invested in pension funds are put at a disadvantage.

“It is corruption, plain and simple,” Chiu said in a statement. “Californians should not be forced to compete against wealthy trading firms buying early access to market-moving information.”

Trump Media spokesperson Shannon Devine responded in a statement quoted by US media that California should “outsource their future lawsuits to AI chatbots,” accusing the lawyers who filed the case of failing to understand the distinction between public and nonpublic information.

In August, The Intercept and the Freedom of the Press Foundation challenged the Truth API service in federal court in New York.