Trump plans to launch social network in 2-3 months
A top adviser to Donald Trump has confirmed the former president is building his own social network after major tech companies suspended his accounts in the fallout of the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.
“I do think that we’re going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here, with his own platform,” Trump senior adviser Jason Miller told Fox News on Sunday. “And this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media, it’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does.”
Trump has largely been muzzled online since Twitter permanently banned him in the aftermath of the Jan. 6 riot. YouTube and Facebook have also suspended Trump’s accounts, but they’ve left open the possibility he could return to their services. Facebook’s independent oversight board has accepted Trump’s case, and it will make a binding decision in the coming weeks on whether he can return to the platform. YouTube CEO Susan Wojcicki has said Trump will remain suspended until the company can determine the risk of violence has decreased.
Ever since, Trump has pushed out his messages largely through news releases, giving news organizations far more discretion over when to amplify his message. He also has given interviews on news programs that have a record of being friendly to his policies.
Miller made his announcement just days before the CEOs of Facebook, Google and Twitter are scheduled to testify in front the House Energy and Commerce Committee. It will be the socialmedia executives’ first appearance on the Hill since the Capitol attacks, and the Democratic-led committee has said the hearing will focus on the proliferation of disinformation on their platforms. However, it also will be Republicans’ first opportunity
to publicly grill the CEOs about their decisions to suspend Trump’s accounts, which reignited claims that tech companies were too powerful and biased against conservatives.
Even if Trump were to successfully launch the service, it would be practically impossible for him to regain the reach that he once enjoyed on mainstream social networks, which are used by hundreds of millions of people around the world. He had nearly 90 million followers on Twitter at the time of his suspension, and his inactive Facebook page has 32 million “likes” and 35 million followers.
“Twitter gave him access to every reporter in the country and the ability to troll the libs and get on cable news within minutes,” said Nu Wexler, a communications consultant who previously worked for Facebook, Twitter and Google. “I don’t think he would get that on his own social network. It would be an echo chamber of just his supporters.”