Bulletins

Donald Trump launched a social network, and he's the only user

Donald Trump launched a social network, and he's the only user
Photo: Donald Trump

A day before Facebook's Oversight Board announces its ruling on whether Donald Trump will be allowed back on the platform, Trump launched a new communications tool that is all his own. It's called "From The Desk of Donald J. Trump," and it's really not a social network at all. It's a blog.

The site bills itself as "a place to speak freely," though the only person allowed to speak there is Trump himself. Users can share his posts to Facebook and Twitter, heart them, or sign up for alerts or to give money to Trump. "Save America" is the new tagline on the webpage.

Posts on the site go back to March 24, starting with an endorsement by Trump of David Shafer for chairman of the Georgia Republican Party. Many of the posts continue the false narrative that the 2020 election was stolen — which Trump now calls "THE BIG LIE" — and nearly all of his posts are more than 280 characters.

In a way, "From The Desk of Donald J Trump" is actually a resurrection of a brand for Trump, who had a YouTube blog by the same name for several years. He talked politics, reviewed movies, took the Ice Bucket Challenge on top of Trump Tower, and at one point even made a video about his desk itself.

The Trump team may still be working on a bigger social network, Fox News reported. That effort has been led by Dan Scavino, and was reportedly going to come from a partnership with a company like FreeSpace. If that's still forthcoming, it's not clear why Trump waited nearly four months to launch ... a blog. Blogs are pretty easy to build.

Whatever his plans, though, and whatever Facebook decides, it's clear that Trump is planning a return to political life. The RNC hinted he'll be holding a rally this spring, and Trump reportedly told The Daily Wire's Candace Owens that "I think people are going to be very, very happy when I make a certain announcement" about the 2024 race. How he'd handle a political run without a presence on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and other platforms remains to be seen. But it evidently starts with a blog.

David Pierce

David Pierce ( @pierce) is Protocol's former editorial director. Prior to joining Protocol, he was a columnist at The Wall Street Journal, a senior writer with Wired, and deputy editor at The Verge. He owns all the phones.

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Bulletins