Social media use by Donald Trump

Donald Trump's use of social media attracted attention worldwide since he joined Twitter in May 2009. Over nearly twelve years, Trump tweeted around 57,000 times,[1] including about 8,000 times during the 2016 election campaign and over 25,000 times during his presidency.[2] The White House said the tweets should be considered official statements.[3] When Twitter banned Trump from the platform in January 2021 during the final days of his term,[4] his handle @realDonaldTrump had over 88.9 million followers.[5] On November 19, 2022, Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, reinstated his account, although Trump has stated he will not use it in favor of his own social media platform, Truth Social.[6] The first tweet since 2021 was made in August 2023 about his mugshot from Fulton County Jail,[7] but the account has since remained inactive.

For most of Trump's presidency, his account on Twitter, where he often posted controversial and false statements,[8][9][10][11] remained unmoderated in the name of "public interest".[12][13] Congress performed its own form of moderation: on July 16, 2019, the House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to censure him for "racist comments" he had tweeted two days previously.[14] In the face of this political censure, his tweets only accelerated. An investigation by The New York Times published November 2, 2019, found that, during his time in office to date, Trump had already retweeted at least 145 accounts that "have pushed conspiracy or fringe content, including more than two dozen that have since been suspended."[15] In 2020, Trump also spread misinformation about the COVID-19 pandemic.

During his 2020 reelection campaign, he falsely suggested that postal voting or electoral fraud may compromise the election, prompting Twitter to either remove such tweets or label them as disputed.[16][17] After his election loss, Trump persistently undermined the election results in the weeks leading to Joe Biden's inauguration.[18][19] His tweets played a role in inciting the January 6, 2021, attack of the US Capitol during the formal counting of electoral votes.[20] Though the Senate eventually acquitted Trump during his second impeachment, social media companies swiftly banned him. Facebook and Instagram banned him for two years.[21][22][23][24] Twitter permanently suspended his @realDonaldTrump handle, followed by the official account of his campaign (@TeamTrump)[25][26][27] and the accounts of allies who posted on his behalf, like Trump campaign digital director Gary Coby.[28] Twitter also deleted three tweets by Trump on the @POTUS handle[29] and barred access to the presidential account until Joe Biden's inauguration. During the first week that Trump was banned on several platforms (January 9–15), election-related misinformation declined 73 percent, according to research analytics firm Zignal Labs.[30]

As Trump continued to issue brief statements, his spokesperson Liz Harrington tweeted screenshots of them under the Save America logo from June 2021 to June 2022.[31] Since then, however, her Twitter handle @realLizUSA has been infrequently used. She said she would move to Truth Social,[32] a Trump-affiliated social media application that launched on February 21, 2022.[33]

On April 4, 2023, at his arraignment hearing, Trump was warned by Acting New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan not to use social media to incite violence.[34]

  1. ^ Madhani, Aamer; Colvin, Jill (January 9, 2021). "A farewell to @realDonaldTrump, gone after 57,000 tweets". Associated Press. @realDonaldTrump frequently spread misleading, false and malicious assertions...For the most part, @realDonaldTrump and its 280-character posts effectively allowed Trump to work around the Washington media establishment and amplify the message of allies.
  2. ^ Maegan Vazquez; Christopher Hickey; Priya Krishnakumar; Janie Boschma (December 18, 2020). "Donald Trump's presidency by the numbers". CNN.
  3. ^ Landers, Elizabeth (June 6, 2017). "Spicer: Tweets are Trump's official statements". CNN. Archived from the original on July 20, 2017.
  4. ^ Conger, Kate; Isaac, Mike (January 16, 2021). "Inside Twitter's Decision to Cut Off Trump". The New York Times.
  5. ^ "Donald Trump loses social media megaphone". Deutsche Welle. January 7, 2021. Retrieved February 17, 2021.
  6. ^ Vincent, James; Hollister, Sean (November 19, 2022). "Elon Musk says he's letting Donald Trump back on Twitter". The Verge. Retrieved November 19, 2022.
  7. ^ Colvin, Jill (August 24, 2023). "Trump returns to X, the site formerly known as Twitter, shortly after surrendering in Georgia". AP News. Retrieved August 24, 2023.
  8. ^ Leonhardt, David; Thompson, Stuart A. (June 23, 2017). "Trump's Lies". The New York Times (opinion). Archived from the original on June 23, 2017. Retrieved June 24, 2017.
  9. ^ Qiu, Linda (April 27, 2017). "Fact-Checking President Trump Through His First 100 Days". The New York Times. Archived from the original on June 22, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  10. ^ Kessler, Glenn; Lee, Michelle Ye Hee (May 1, 2017). "President Trump's first 100 days: The fact check tally". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 24, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  11. ^ Drinkard, Jim; Woodward, Calvin (June 24, 2017). "Fact check: Trump's missions unaccomplished despite his claims". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.
  12. ^ Robertson, Adi (November 7, 2020). "Trump will lose his Twitter 'public interest' protections in January". The Verge. Archived from the original on November 17, 2020. Retrieved November 17, 2020.
  13. ^ "About public-interest exceptions on Twitter". help.twitter.com. Retrieved January 13, 2021.
  14. ^ Cite error: The named reference :1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  15. ^ McIntire, Mike; Yourish, Karen; Buchanan, Larry (November 2, 2019). "In Trump's Twitter Feed: Conspiracy-Mongers, Racists and Spies". The New York Times. Retrieved November 2, 2019.
  16. ^ "Trump Covid post deleted by Facebook and hidden by Twitter". BBC News. October 6, 2020. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  17. ^ "Twitter Adds Fact-Check Labels To Trump's False Statements". www.mediapost.com. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  18. ^ Nate Rattner (January 13, 2021). "Trump's election lies were among his most popular tweets". CNBC.
  19. ^ Spangler, Todd (November 27, 2020). "Twitter Has Flagged 200 of Trump's Posts as 'Disputed' or Misleading Since Election Day. Does It Make a Difference?". Variety. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  20. ^ Rodriguez, Salvador (January 6, 2021). "Twitter locks Trump's account following video addressing Washington rioters". CNBC. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  21. ^ Clayton, James; Kelion, Leo; Molloy, David (January 7, 2021). "Facebook blocks Trump 'at least until transition complete'". BBC News. Retrieved January 7, 2021.
  22. ^ Heilweil, Rebecca (June 4, 2021). "What Facebook's two-year Trump ban does and doesn't do". Vox. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  23. ^ "In Response to Oversight Board, Trump Suspended for Two Years; Will Only Be Reinstated if Conditions Permit". About Facebook. June 4, 2021. Retrieved September 19, 2021.
  24. ^ Duffy, Clare (January 25, 2023). "Meta says it will restore Donald Trump's Facebook and Instagram accounts". Retrieved January 26, 2023.
  25. ^ "Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump". blog.twitter.com. Twitter. January 8, 2021. Retrieved January 9, 2021.
  26. ^ Collins, Ben; Zadrozny, Brandy (January 8, 2021). "Twitter permanently suspends President Donald Trump". NBC News. Retrieved January 8, 2021.
  27. ^ Cite error: The named reference :10 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  28. ^ Lonas, Lexi (January 9, 2021). "Twitter bans accounts for Trump campaign, digital director". The Hill. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  29. ^ "Twitter deletes new Trump tweets on @POTUS, suspends campaign account". Reuters. January 9, 2021. Retrieved January 11, 2021.
  30. ^ Dwoskin, Elizabeth; Timberg, Craig (January 16, 2021). "Misinformation dropped dramatically the week after Twitter banned Trump and some allies". The Washington Post. Retrieved March 25, 2021.
  31. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (July 20, 2021). "Donald Trump Is Brazenly Flouting His Twitter Ban With Aide's Help". HuffPost. Retrieved December 5, 2021.
  32. ^ Papenfuss, Mary (May 19, 2022). "Twitter Shuts Down Account Posting All Of Trump's Truth Social Messages". HuffPost. Retrieved May 20, 2022.
  33. ^ Wong, Queenie (February 21, 2022). "Trump's Truth Social Debuts in Apple's App Store, Hits No. 1 in Top Charts". CNET. Retrieved March 4, 2022.
  34. ^ Grenoble, Ryan (April 4, 2023). "Judge Warns Donald Trump Against Using Social Media To 'Incite Violence'". HuffPost. Retrieved April 5, 2023.