EXCLUSIVE: Trump and Aide Natalie Harp Hit With Second Federal Lawsuit Over $100K Truth Social Access in Growing Court War
Donald Trump and aide Natalie Harp are both named in a second federal lawsuit challenging Truth Social's $100,000-a-month access service.
Sept. 18 2026, Published 3:20 p.m. ET
President Trump has been hit with a second federal lawsuit over a controversial Truth Social service that allegedly gives paying subscribers early access to government announcements – with longtime aide Natalie Harp once again dragged into the escalating court war, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
Watchdog groups American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability filed the fresh lawsuit in Washington, D.C., on Thursday, September 17, challenging Truth Social's new "Truth API" service and accusing Trump and members of his administration of unlawfully giving wealthy subscribers preferential access to official information.
Second Lawsuit Escalates Truth Social Fight
Harp has now been named in two federal lawsuits challenging 'Truth API.'
According to court documents obtained by Radar, the groups claim customers can pay as much as $100,000 per month for real-time, priority access to posts from some of Truth Social's most-followed accounts – including Trump's.
The service reportedly drops to $60,000 per month for customers willing to sign three-year contracts. The complaint names Trump alongside several administration officials, including Harp and White House Deputy Chief of Staff Dan Scavino.
Harp was also named in the separate August 12 federal lawsuit, which alleges she has access to Trump's Truth Social account and helps publish posts on his behalf.
The earlier complaint identifies Harp as one of the White House aides involved in operating the account at the center of the paid-access dispute.
What Does the New Lawsuit Allege?
Trump is named in the September 17 lawsuit challenging Truth Social's paid-access service.
That earlier case similarly challenged Truth API and accused Trump and White House employees of violating the First and Fifth Amendments by allowing paying customers to see government-related announcements before journalists and members of the public.
The latest lawsuit alleges Trump and other administration officials routinely use Truth Social to announce major government decisions and policies, sometimes without immediately distributing the same information through traditional government channels.
Trump Media launched Truth API on August 1. The watchdog groups claim the service allows subscribers to obtain posts from Trump, Scavino, the White House, and other senior officials before those same posts become available to ordinary Truth Social users.
Harp is accused in the complaint of playing a key role in managing Trump's Truth Social activity.
Trump Media interim CEO Kevin McGurn has described the product as offering access to the platform's "most market-moving Truths."
American Oversight and Campaign for Accountability argue the arrangement disadvantages organizations unable or unwilling to pay for real-time access to government information.
Their complaint alleges violations of the First and Fifth Amendments and the Paperwork Reduction Act. Trump and the other defendants have not been found liable for the allegations.
That removes the longer line about "equal-protection and due-process principles" and the extra sentence about the administration allowing a private company to control how quickly the public receives information. Those ideas are already baked into the paragraph above and the lawsuit's requested relief.
Watchdogs Seek to Block Paid Early Access
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The plaintiffs are asking a federal judge to block officials from posting government information first.
The September 17 lawsuit asks a federal judge to declare the Truth API arrangement unlawful and block officials from posting government information first or exclusively through accounts covered by the paid service.
The filing comes just over a month after The Intercept and Freedom of the Press Foundation launched their own federal challenge. Those plaintiffs have also sought a preliminary injunction restricting Trump, Harp and Scavino from using Truth Social for official announcements while the paid early-access system remains in place.
The two lawsuits now place the same Truth API program under separate federal court challenges.
