Former President Donald Trump has launched his own online platform to communicate with supporters.
The “communications” website, called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” will operate as a pulpit for the ex-president following his exodus from social media, allowing him to get his message out to supporters without interacting with them. Thus far, the new platform consists of a feed of posts by Trump — similar to Twitter — with many of them centering around political matters. The website also promulgates press releases and statements by Trump and also includes a camera feature that will allow Trump to make videos.
Users will also be able to like and share posts from Trump on Twitter and Facebook — where he is currently banned.
“President Trump’s website is a great resource to find his latest statements and highlights from his first term in office, but this is not a new social media platform,” said Trump spokesman Jason Miller on Twitter. “We’ll have additional information coming on that front in the very near future.”
🚨President Trump’s website is a great resource to find his latest statements and highlights from his first term in office, but this is not a new social media platform. We’ll have additional information coming on that front in the very near future.🚨 https://t.co/m9ymmHofmI
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) May 4, 2021
The move comes as Facebook’s Oversight Board decided on Wednesday to uphold Trump’s indefinite suspension from the platform. Twitter has also maintained that Trump is permanently banned. Trump was deplatformed from Twitter, Facebook, and Youtube following a Capitol riot that broke out on Jan. 6.
Since losing his millions of followers on social media and leaving office on Jan. 20, Trump has repeatedly teased starting his own social media platform to push back against Silicon Valley who many say are censoring and suppressing conservative viewpoints.
The issue of deplatforming even made it to the Republican-led Florida Legislature during the 2021 Legislative Session, where lawmakers passed a bill that prohibits social media platforms from deplatforming candidates running for political office. The measure (SB 7072) would fine big tech companies who boot public officials from their sites, and force them to pay $250,000 a day if a statewide candidate is removed. Removing local candidates would carry a fine of $25,000 per day.
Governor Ron DeSantis is expected to sign the legislation into law.