Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Tuesday launched a new way to communicate with his followers, on the eve of a decision by Facebook’s oversight board about whether to allow him back onto the platform.
The posts that appear on the site thus far largely appear to be a collection of the press release statements he has issued in recent days via his other channels, including his Save America PAC, and is titled “From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.”
Visitors are able to “like” Trump’s messages, as well as repost them to Facebook and Twitter, though it does not appear to allow users to comment on or otherwise engage with the posts.
As such, they’re closer to a blog or collection of past news releases that many politicians have on their official websites than a true rival to the Big Tech giants Trump and his allies frequently rail against.
Trump’s post-presidency team has for weeks teased a new platform that would replace social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, which dramatically shut down the president’s accounts in the weeks before he left office after years of struggling with how to handle falsehoods and incendiary posts coming from a sitting president and other political figures.
On Wednesday, Facebook’s oversight board is expected to announce whether it will allow Trump to return to the platform. Trump’s prior favorite platform, Twitter, permanently blocked his account after the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol whereas Facebook opted to leave open the possibility that his page would be restored.
Fox News first reported on Trump’s venture.