Donald Trump has no plans to rejoin Twitter, the former president said on Monday, after it was announced that billionaire Elon Musk bought the social media platform for $44 billion.
He’s instead sticking to his own app, TRUTH Social, whose popularity sputtered after a surge of interest during its glitch-ridden debut on Apple’s App Store. It’s still not available for Android users.
And despite not having posted since the platform’s launch roughly two months ago, the ex-president told Fox News he’d be a regular user within as little as a week.
‘I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,’ Trump told the outlet.
‘I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH.’
A spokesman for Trump confirmed his intentions to DailyMail.com.
Trump claimed his app was getting a ‘better’ response than social media giant Twitter, though he did not appear to elaborate on how.
‘We’re taking in millions of people, and what we’re finding is that the response on TRUTH is much better than being on Twitter,’ the ex-president said.
‘Twitter has bots and fake accounts, and we are doing everything we can.’
The former president reportedly has a ‘good relationship’ with Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion on Monday
Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter following the January 6 riot last year over inflammatory messages aimed at his supporters, some of whom broke into the US Capitol building that day.
Facebook and Instagram similarly booted the ex-commander-in-chief.
During his White House tenure the Republican leader was known to conduct foreign policy on the app, often throwing out offers or threats to other world leaders.
Conservatives and Trump supporters on Twitter have been hopeful that Musk, who touted ‘free speech’ in the announcement of his takeover, would reverse Trump’s ban.
‘Free speech is the bedrock of a functioning democracy, and Twitter is the digital town square where matters vital to the future of humanity are debated,’ the billionaire’s statement read.
Fox’s report noted that Musk and Trump have a ‘good relationship’ but the former president declined to say whether they’d spoken.
The ‘bottom line,’ Trump said, was that he would be staying off Twitter.
He also denied that Twitter was any competition to him, and said Musk’s ownership was a ‘good’ thing.
In a statement he posted announcing the purchase, Musk touted ‘free speech’ as ‘the bedrock of a functioning democracy,’ spurring hope among conservative users that he may reinstate Trump’s banned account
Trump only posted on his TRUTH Social app once, when it debuted roughly two months ago
‘We want liberty and justice and fairness in our country, and the more we can have open, the better,’ Trump said.
‘But no, I don’t view that as a competition for what I am doing.’
The ex-president was also aware that his exclusivity to TRUTH Social was a benefit for its brand.
‘TRUTH Social will be a voice for me…And that’s something nobody else can get,’ he said.
He added that the social media giant became ‘boring’ because of ‘conservatives were thrown off or got off the platform when I left.’
Earlier this month it was reported that Trump was hesitant to post on TRUTH Social, his highest-profile business venture since leaving the White House, because of its low download numbers and user activity.
The ex-president privately expressed doubts that ‘it is not ready for prime time,’ according to the New York Times.
The app debuted on President’s Day and immediately shot to the top of Apple’s download charts, though users reported various glitches and delays while others were put on a ‘wait list’ that was six figures long with no indication of when it would end.
A March 30 report claimed the platform saw a staggering 93 percent drop in downloads just a month later.
Former House Rep. Devin Nunes, who is CEO of the company behind TRUTH, claimed it would be fully operational by the end of that month.
Source: dailymail
