Upon losing the election and his access to Twitter, Donald Trump’s schedule has been largely filled with his favorite recreational activities, such as round after round of golf and crashing weddings at Mar-a-Lago to complain about being voted out of office. But his latest venture aims to restore the rhythm of his golden days online.
On Tuesday afternoon, the ex-president debuted a new page on his website called “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.” While the introductory video describes the project as “a beacon of freedom” in “a time of silence and lies,” it’s basically a one-man Twitter allowing the man who posted his way to the presidency to tweet ceaselessly into the void without fear that his missives will be labeled as misinformation or that he’ll get kicked off his own platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence.” Supporters who have missed his intraparty insults about Liz Cheney and the “stone cold loser” Mitt Romney can now sign up to have his non-tweets delivered to their email inbox.
While many political commentators have been turning to blogging these days, Trump’s new site feels a little more web 1.0, with users having to go out of their way to see his roughly 280-character thoughts on election conspiracies and Republicans who have failed him. (A loyal aide has conveniently populated the page with press releases dating back to late March.) As of day one, the most interesting aspect of Trump’s Mar-a-Liveblog is the picture of the author scribbling in a blank book with a Sharpie:
The move to establish a social media network for one comes on the eve of Facebook’s decision whether or not to uphold Trump’s suspension on the platform following the Capitol riot. In both of his campaigns, Facebook was essential to the Trump advertising blitz; in 2020, he outspent Biden there by $43 million in an effort to micro-target supporters. If he is reinstated by an independent oversight committee, the fundraising haul and ad platform that the network provides will be a significant boost to his prospects in 2024, if he chooses to run. “It really fucks the other ‘24 wannabes,” one GOP strategist told Politico.
This post has been updated.
