Former US President Donald Trump (2017-2021) launched his own digital platform on Tuesday with the aim of communicating with his followers, more than three months after being banned or temporarily suspended from social networks such as Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, among others. The platform ‘From the Desk of Donald J. Trump’ collects videos of the former Republican president, his statements in political action committees (PACs) sent by email and other news and allows contributions.
As a presentation of the principles underpinning his platform, Trump states that “‘Save America’ (the words at the top of his website) is about building” on the achievements of his administration and “supporting the courageous conservatives who will define the future of the ‘America First’ movement”. He adds that his goal is to “ensure” the “maintenance” of America First in the country’s foreign and domestic policy and pride in “teaching the truth about our history and celebrating our rich national heritage and traditions”.
Among the commitments his platform advocates and proposes is the defence of “innocent lives and the Judeo-Christian values of our foundation”, as well as the notion enshrined in the Declaration of Independence that God “has made us all equal and that all should be treated equally under the law”.
Users can sign up to receive notifications when Trump sends a message from the new platform, and while there is no mechanism for responding to the former president’s posts, they can “like” and share them via their own social media accounts. The website indicates that the platform is run by Nucleus, a digital company that, according to the digital newspaper The Hill, was created by Brad Parscale, Trump’s former campaign manager.
Trump, who has lived in Palm Beach (Florida) since leaving the White House, is still banned from the vast majority of social networks following the assault on the US Capitol on 6 January by hundreds of his supporters, some of them armed, who had earlier attended a rally by the then-president. Facebook’s advisory board, created by the company itself to act as a sort of supreme court on what content should be removed from the platform, is expected to announce on Wednesday whether or not to maintain the veto on Trump.
The former president has described the veto on social networks as an attack on freedom of expression and, in Florida, Governor Ron DeSantis, a Trump supporter, has promoted a bill to prevent platforms from taking such measures in the state.
Since Democrat Joe Biden took office on 20 January, Trump’s visibility has been considerably reduced, partly because he does not have Twitter or other social networks to disseminate his ideas and mobilise and rally his supporters.
After a time of silence, Trump announced the creation of the 45th Office of the President to communicate by email, then a website appeared and finally came the news that he was creating his own platform. So far he has not confirmed whether he aspires to be a candidate in the 2024 elections, although he says he is seriously considering it.