Former US President Donald Trump is preparing to return to Twitter for his upcoming presidential campaign and ditch his own social media platform Truth Social, Rolling Stone reports.
When Trump first founded Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), he agreed to a “social media exclusivity term” that required him to “first channel any and all social media communications” to his Truth Social account for six hours before posting the content to other platforms, the report said, citing to SEC filings.
But two sources familiar with the matter told Rolling Stone that since late last year, Trump has informed several people close to him that he doesn’t want to re-up the exclusivity agreement with Truth Social.
The 18-month term of that requirement is up in June — right as the Republican primary is expected to begin heating up. After that, Trump’s exclusivity term would automatically renew for six month periods “unless notice is given.” In the event his exclusivity term expires, Trump would still be “required to post contemporaneously to Truth Social.”
“He said there’s an expiration date and that he didn’t want to make commitments,” one of the sources said.
Asked whether Trump planned to continue to make Truth Social his exclusive social media home, a company representative directed Rolling Stone to a recent appearance by TMTG CEO Devin Nunes on Newsmax where the former California congressman said Trump “has no interest in going back to Twitter.”
One person close to Trump, who has spoken to the ex-president recently about Twitter, disputed that comment, telling Rolling Stone on Sunday: “There is no way [Nunes’ statement] is true.”
Trump was banned from Twitter, Facebook and a host of other sites following the January 6, 2021 Capitol riots.
However, Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, reinstated Trump’s account in November.
As for Facebook, its parent company, Meta, has previously said it will decide whether to allow Trump to return by January 7, 2023. However, a person with knowledge of the deliberations told The Financial Times earlier this month that the decision is now expected to be announced later in the month.
Last week, NBC News reported that Trump's campaign is formally petitioning Meta to unblock his account.
