Trump’s Truth Social Launched on Apple’s App Store, Some Drawbacks

Still, an app like Twitter, owned by Trump Media & Technology Group, topped Apple Inc.’s App Store’s free apps chart early Tuesday after becoming available for download on Monday.

Trump Media & Technology Group, the company Mr Trump founded shortly after leaving office in 2021, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp, the blank-check company that merged with Trump Media & Technology Group, jumped 19% in premarket trading on Tuesday. Traders have struggled in recent months to place a consistent value on Mr Trump’s social-media venture, a business that has offered few details but one that supporters think is set to take off.

Mr Trump’s son, Donald Jr., tweeted last week in what was the former president’s first post on Truth Social. “Get ready! Your favorite president will see you soon!” Said it.

In December, Trump Media & Technology Group named Representative Devin Nunes, a longtime ally of Trump, as chief executive of the social-media venture. “By the end of March we are going to be fully operational at least within the United States,” Nunes said on Fox News on Sunday.

When he was in the White House, Mr Trump relied heavily on social media to communicate with his supporters, often bypassing his advisers and traditional media by posting directly to Twitter.

Twitter Inc banned Mr Trump’s personal account in January 2021, citing the risk of further inciting violence following an attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his followers a few days earlier. Facebook Inc. also suspended them after the riots, and Alphabet Inc.’s Google suspended the social-media app parlor from its App Store, which some Trump supporters and other conservatives said violated its policies. has done. Apple threatened to do so.

Across all platforms, Mr Trump had amassed nearly 150 million followers – including 35 million on Facebook and 88 million on Twitter – which made him one of the most-watched world leaders on social media.

Twitter said, “After closely reviewing the recent tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context surrounding them—particularly how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter—we have identified the risk of further incitement to violence. Due to the account being permanently suspended.” In a blog post at the time.

In the wake of the Capitol attack, many have expressed alarm over the role tech platforms played in spreading Trump’s baseless claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and the spread of angry calls by his followers to act in response. it was done.

The restrictions have become a rallying call among supporters of the former president, and he frequently references censorship and freedom of speech in his rallies.