Former President Donald Trump’s blog has been permanently shut down, his spokesman said Wednesday, less than a month after it went live.
The blog, titled “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump,” has been scrubbed from Trump’s website after going live less than a month earlier.
It “will not be returning,” his senior aide Jason Miller told CNBC.
“It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on,” Miller said via email.
He declined to provide additional details about those efforts.
“Hoping to have more information on the broader efforts soon, but I do not have a precise awareness of timing,” Miller said.
But asked online later Wednesday whether the move was a “precursor” to the former president joining “another social media platform,” Miller replied: “Yes, actually, it is. Stay tuned!”
Yes, actually, it is. Stay tuned! https://t.co/USKGvVXe2f
— Jason Miller (@JasonMillerinDC) June 2, 2021
Facebook and Twitter banned Trump from posting on their platforms after the Jan. 6 invasion of the U.S. Capitol by some of the then-president’s most rabid supporters.
Trump, who never conceded to President Joe Biden, repeatedly and falsely claimed on social media after the Nov. 3 election that the race had been stolen from him by widespread fraud.
The blog, unveiled last month and originally billed as a new “communications platform,” seemed ill-equipped to take on the largest social media companies.
Miller clarified at the time — on Twitter — that the “Desk” page was “a great resource” to find Trump’s statements, “but this is not a new social media platform.”
🚨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
News about Trump’s new social network was first reported by Miller during an interview with Fox in March.
He said that Trump will be “returning to social media in probably about two or three months.”
He added Trump’s return will be with “his own platform” that will attract “tens of millions” of new users and “completely redefine the game.” As Miller emphasized in his statement: “It is going to be big.”
Trump’s social media presence will be difficult
A number of Trump’s supporters were displaced from mainstream social media platforms after being linked with violent rhetoric, including the sharing of white supremacist, racist and fascist tropes.
Analysts say that if those same views are shared on Trump’s platform, his latest social media adventure could quickly descend into toxic farce – prompting tech companies like Apple, Google and Amazon to intervene once again to stop the spread of such speech online.
Writing at The Conversation, analysts note that building a social media platform is actually relatively easy. “Keeping the new platform online after its release could prove difficult,” they add.
It will somehow have to avoid the fate of so-called “free speech” social media platforms favored by Trump’s supporters that were shut down earlier this year by their owners.
The platform will also likely become a target of hackers and trolls opposed to Trump’s brand of politics, who may look to find ways to shut it down or cause disruption.
“Trump’s new social media platform may well go live in two to three months – but keeping it online and free from disruption will be the real challenge,” the experts warn.
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