Donald Trump does not want to go back on Twitter for the time being After stopping development aid: Mali bans French NGOs

Will Donald Trump be active on Twitter again – or is he really limited to his Twitter clone? The Republican has denied any ambition to return – after all, he founded his own contest platform, Truth Social.

However, it is doubtful whether the right-wing populist can really resist the lure of Twitter for long. Twitter boss Musk also seems to consider Trump’s return likely and therefore posted a satirical tweet:

Especially given that Donald Trump wants to retake the White House in 2024, Twitter is much better suited as an all-encompassing mouthpiece. Compared to its own service, the SMS service reaches a much larger target group.

Trump’s reach on Twitter is huge

The numbers also speak a clear language. Trump currently has about 4.6 million followers on Truth Social. Before his account was blocked after the Capitol storm on January 6, 2021, Twitter had about 88.8 million followers.

According to internet analytics service Compareweb, Truth Social received a total of eight million visits in September and Twitter had seven billion visits that month. And according to a Pew Research Center poll, only 27 percent of American adults have heard of Truth Social and only 2 percent receive information from it.

Truth Social launched in February. The site, operated by Trump’s media start-up Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), largely resembles a copy of Twitter. Users can publish and also forward short messages – instead of “Retweet” it is called “ReTruth”. Truth Social describes itself as a platform that “encourages open, free and fair global conversation without discrimination based on political ideology”.

Truth Social faces numerous problems

Right-wing politicians and activists repeatedly accuse the major internet platforms of leftist orientation and censorship of right-wing content. Truth Social specifically targets a right-wing audience, just like other platforms like Parler, Gettr, and Rumble.

Trump himself uses Truth Social extensively to get his message out to the public, attack political opponents, and share messages or media reports that portray him in a good light.

What is controversial is how Truth Social moderates content. Truth Social is, among other things, a gathering place for supporters of the far-right conspiracy theory QAnon, according to which Trump is fighting underground against a criminal satanic organization of pedophiles.

NewsGuard, which specializes in disinformation on the Internet, wrote in August that Truth Social had become an “active amplifier” of conspiracy theory. Trump himself has spread QAnon symbolism on the platform.

Internet giant Google initially did not allow the app on its Play Store, justifying it with a lack of action against threats and calls for violence on the platform. Then, in October, after promises to comply with Google’s guidelines, Truth Social was approved on the App Store.

Meanwhile, there have been reports of Truth Social’s financial problems. In October 2021, Trump Media and Technology Group announced a merger with Digital World Acquisition, an exchange vehicle known as Special Purpose Acquisition Company (Spac), to access funding sources. The merger is still a long time coming.

Return is not so unlikely?

Finally, could all the issues on Truth Social entice Trump to return to Twitter? The doors would be open to him, because in recent days, Twitter under Musk’s leadership has already reversed some controversial account bans. This includes that of the former US president, who was banned from the platform after the storming of the Capitol in early January 2021.

In the former president’s case, Musk created a poll and let users vote on whether Trump should return to the platform. 15 million comments and a relatively short “Yes” later, the profile was unblocked and available again on Twitter. In a separate article, we summarized for you how the online community reacted to this decision.

(afp, arg)