Trump snubbing Twitter in bid to save Truth Social, but insiders think he'll cave

Christian Datoc

November 23, 07:00 AM November 23, 07:00 AM

Former President Donald Trump has yet to tweet following the weekend restoration of his Twitter account, but sources close to Trump suggest his now optional boycott of the platform won't last long.

Multiple Trumpworld figures familiar with the former president's thinking on the topic told the Washington Examiner that his initial hesitation about tweeting is only a ploy to save his own struggling social media company, Truth Social.

ELON MUSK REINSTATES TRUMP'S TWITTER ACCOUNT

New Twitter owner Elon Musk restored Trump's access over the weekend after publicly toying with the idea since purchasing the company. Musk has also brought back Twitter privileges for Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), Kanye West, comedian Kathy Griffin, Jordan Peterson, and Andrew Tate in recent days, though he refused to allow conspiracy theorist Alex Jones back onto the platform.

Trump first reacted to the news Saturday, during a virtual appearance before the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting in Las Vegas, but said he sees "a lot of problems" with his once-preferred messaging tool.

"I hear we’re getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it," Trump said during his remarks. "It may make it; it may not make it."

He additionally suggested that Truth Social "has taken the place for a lot of people, and I don't see them going back onto Twitter."

"Truth Social has been very, very powerful, very, very strong, and I'll be staying there," Trump concluded.

Despite Trump's claims about Truth, sources note the company's precarious legal and financial footing.

Truth launched in February, and it was reported in August that the company has missed nearly $2 million in payments to vendors. Furthermore, the Securities and Exchange Commission is reportedly investigating Digital World Acquisition Corp., the special purpose acquisition company Trump hopes to merge Truth's parent company with to go public, for illegally negotiating that potential merger.

DWAC stockholders voted Tuesday morning to delay the merger with Trump Media and Technology Group, Truth's parent company, until September 2023.

One Trumpworld source said shareholders would "for sure" vote to delay the merger, as it "isn't a serious thing." That person insinuated Truth is "flirting" with even larger legal problems in the near future.

Currently, Trump serves as chairman of the board at TMTG, and his stake in the company requires him to make any social media posts on Truth first, though he is not prevented from posting elsewhere. Facebook and Instagram, like Twitter, both banned the former president from their platform following the Capitol riot on Jan. 6, 2021.

Putting Truth's tenuous future aside, the significantly larger reach Trump would have on Twitter compared to his own company will likely lure him back to the blue bird. As of Tuesday, Trump had nearly 4 million followers on Truth but more than 87 million on Twitter.

"I think he has to," one former Trump administration official said of a return to Twitter. "But he’s gonna destroy his own platform in the process."

Two former Trump administration officials claimed that, while a small section of diehard Trump supporters migrated to Truth, most conservative influencers did not. They suggested that Trump would need those large accounts to amplify his messaging if he wants to successfully win the 2024 Republican presidential nomination.

"If he doesn't get on Twitter, that's a whole audience and a bunch of ground he's ceding," one person concluded.

Finally, one of Trump's top out-of-government advisers predicted Trump resuming tweeting because he "just wants somewhere to word vomit."