Topline
More than a year after he was banned from most mainstream social networks, former President Donald Trump posted a brief message Thursday to Truth Social, a Trump-founded “non-woke” Twitter alternative that has struggled to overcome glitches—shortly after Trump declared he would not return to Twitter even if given the opportunity following Elon Musk’s planned takeover.
After two months, former President Donald Trump has returned to Truth Social on social media. inactivity.Joe Walsh/SME
Here are some key facts
“I’M BACK! “#COVFEFE”, the tweet read. It was accompanied with a photograph of Trump at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida.
The post was Trump’s second on the platform since it launched more than two months ago, following a February post reading, “Get Ready! “Your favorite president will be seeing you soon!”
The post came three days after the former president told reporters he will not return to Twitter even if Musk—whose offer to buy Twitter was accepted by the company’s board Monday—rescinds Trump’s lifetime ban, and promised he would return to Truth Social within a week.
Tangent
The “COVFEFE” hashtag alludes to a now-infamous 2017 tweet in which Trump wrote, “Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” provoking much debate about Trump’s intended meaning. Many media outlets concluded that Trump intended to write the phrase “constant negative press coverage.” However, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer chafed at the notion that the garbled late-night tweet contained a typo: “I think the president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant,” he said.
The Key Background
Trump permanently bannedTwo days following the Capitol Riot of January 6, 2021 in Washington, Twitter announced that it had launched a Twitter account to address posts which Twitter claimed incited violence. Trump claimed that he was a victim to “wildly aggressivecensorship” and announced in October the creation of Trump Media and Technology Group. The company will merge with Digital World Acquisition Corp, a blank check company. Launching February 21, Trump’s Truth Social was initially billed as a censorship-free platform, but its launch was hampered by glitches, a profusion of fake accounts and a waitlist of almost 1.5 million. When Musk, who has also accused Twitter of censorship, made an unsolicited offer to buy Twitter, it sparked widespread speculation that Musk might reinstate Trump’s account. However, Trump told CNBC earlier this week that, though he liked Musk “a lot,” he would stick to Truth Social.
Chief Critic
Musk tweeted Wednesday that “Truth Social” was a terrible name, and that “Trumpet” would have been better, remarking that the platform only existed because of Twitter’s censorship. Musk has not commented on whether he will lift Trump’s ban.
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