Former President Donald Trump is reportedly planning a big return to Twitter, one of the several sites that kicked him off their platforms in the wake of the January 6, 2021, Capitol attack.
Trump cannot tweet again without following some rules set up by his company, however. Within his contract with Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) — the parent company of Truth Social, the site he helped found in response to his being kicked off of Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and many other sites — Trump has a “first channel [of] any and all social media communications” agreement, stipulating that he cannot post to other social media sites unless he posts to Truth Social first.
Then — and only six hours after those initial Truth Social posts — can he post elsewhere, according to the agreement.
There’s one major loophole: Trump can make tweets relating to “political messaging, political fundraising or get out the vote efforts,” which include discussing his own campaign for the 2024 presidential contest, which he announced himself in November.
With Twitter owner Elon Musk removing the lifetime ban on Trump, the former president can technically now make any political post he wants on the platform. But according to reporting from Rolling Stone, Trump only wants to come back in a grand fashion, possibly by creating a WWE-esque video that celebrates his return to the platform.
The video, per Rolling Stone’s report, would also include Trump discussing his planned return to the White House — a possibility that the vast majority of the electorate staunchly opposes.
Several Truth Social officials, including former Republican congressman and TMTG CEO Devin Nunes, have repeatedly stated that Trump will not be making any return to sites that have banned him, with Nunes recently saying that Trump “has no interest in going back.” But publicly, Trump is trying to restore his other social media accounts, including on Facebook, whose company board is currently deciding on whether to reinstate his posting privileges.
Just last week, Trump sent a letter to Meta, Facebook’s parent company, pleading with them to let him back onto the platform, saying that it was important for his presidential campaign. Trump’s continued ban on that site “dramatically distort[s] and inhibit[s] the public discourse,” a letter from his lawyers said.
With his return to Twitter — and his possible return to Facebook — Trump may no longer have a need for his fledgling social media site, which is facing a number of financial setbacks and is being investigated by government officials for allegedly violating federal securities law and lying to investors. Indeed, the same sources speaking to Rolling Stone about his presence there have stated he’s planning to ditch the social media network when his contract with TMTG runs up, sometime this summer.
“There’s not going to be a need for that,” one source told the publication, referring to the possibility that Trump renews that contract.
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As Donald Trump is inaugurated a second time, independent media organizations are faced with urgent mandates: Tell the truth more loudly than ever before. Do that work even as our standard modes of distribution (such as social media platforms) are being manipulated and curtailed by forces of fascist repression and ruthless capitalism. Do that work even as journalism and journalists face targeted attacks, including from the government itself. And do that work in community, never forgetting that we’re not shouting into a faceless void – we’re reaching out to real people amid a life-threatening political climate.
Our task is formidable, and it requires us to ground ourselves in our principles, remind ourselves of our utility, dig in and commit.
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