Trump to launch his own social media platform ‘in two or three months,’ aide says

Former spokesman for ex-president predicts ‘tens of millions’ of people will flock to app

Donald Trump plans to return to social media by the summer — but on his own platform, his former spokesman Jason Miller has said.

The former president was banned from his social media accounts — Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and more — in his final days in office earlier this year after stoking the anger of his followers by peddling a 2020 election fraud conspiracy. Thousands of Mr Trump’s supporters stormed the US Capitol on 6 January as Congress was certifying Joe Biden’s victory, a riot that resulted in the deaths of five people, including a police officer.

The de-platformed Mr Trump has been putting together his post-presidency plans at his home in Mar-a-Lago, and part of those plans is launching his own social media app “in two or three months,” Mr Miller told Fox News on Sunday.

“This is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media,” said Mr Miller, a longtime election and transition spokesman for the ex-president.

“It will be big once he starts. There have been a lot of high-powered meetings he’s been having at Mar-a-Lago with some teams of folks who have been coming in, and I gotta tell you, it’s not just one company that’s approached the president — there have been numerous companies. ... Everyone wants him,” Mr Miller said.

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The Trump spokesman had previously told Mediaite his boss has been having “ongoing conversations with both existing social media platforms, and also potentially with some brand new platforms.”

On Sunday, Mr Miller estimated that Mr Trump’s social media platform would attract “tens of millions” of users.

It will “completely redefine the game,” he speculated.

Without the use of social media, Mr Trump has been releasing emailed statements with his latest ruminations on the American political landscape.

On Saturday, for instance, the former president released a statement once again claiming, falsely, that the 2020 election was rigged against him and that he would have won if not for rampant fraud tipping the balance towards Mr Biden.

The Justice Department and FBI have both confirmed that there was no widespread election fraud and Mr Biden won the White House fairly.