Former US president Donald Trump will soon use "his own platform" to return to social media, an adviser said on Sunday, months after the he was banned from Twitter for inciting the US Capitol riot.
Mr Trump has remained in relative silence at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida since losing his Twitter account and the protections and powers of office. Recently he has released short statements which many have likened to his tweets of old.
Speculation has been rife that Mr Trump might seek to create his own TV network in an attempt to prise viewers from Fox News, which was first to call the crucial state of Arizona for Joe Biden on election night, to Mr Trump's considerable anger.
But on Sunday adviser Jason Miller said social media was the immediate target.
"The president's been off of social media for a while," he told Fox News Media Buzz host Howard Kurtz, "[BUT] his press releases, his statements have actually been getting almost more play than he ever did on Twitter before."
Mr Miller said he had been told by a reporter the statements were “much more elegant” and “more presidential” than Mr Trump’s tweets, but added: “I do think that we’re going to see president Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here with his own platform.
“And this is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media, it’s going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly president Trump does. But it will be his own platform.”
Asked if Mr Trump was going to create the platform himself or with a company, Mr Miller said: “I can’t go much further than what I was able to just share, but I can say that it will be big once he starts.
“There have been a lot of high-power meetings he’s been having at Mar-a-Lago with some teams of folks who have been coming in, and it’s not just one company that’s approached the president, there have been numerous companies.
“But I think the president does know what direction he wants to head here and this new platform is going to be big and everyone wants him, he’s gonna bring millions and millions, tens of millions of people to this new platform.”
Impeachment
Mr Trump, his supporters and prominent conservatives alleged bias from social media companies even before the events of January 6th, when five people including a police officer died as a mob stormed the Capitol, seeking at Mr Trump’s urging to overturn his election defeat.
In the aftermath of the attack, Mr Trump was also suspended from Facebook and Instagram. Rightwing platforms including Gab and Parler have come under intense scrutiny amid investigations of the Capitol putsch.
Mr Trump was impeached for inciting the attack but acquitted when only seven Republican senators voted to convict.
He therefore remains free to run for office and has dominated polls regarding prospective Republican nominees in 2024, raising impressive sums in political donations even while his business fortunes suffer amid numerous legal threats.
Mr Miller emphasised the hold Mr Trump retains on his party.
"He's already had over 20 senators over 50 members of Congress either call or make the pilgrimage to Mar-a-Lago to ask for [his]endorsement," he said.
With the sort of performative hyperbole Mr Trump aides often display for their watching boss, Mr Miller claimed endorsements from the former president were “the most important in world history. There’s never ever been this type of endorsement that’s carried this much weight.”
Saying the media should "pay attention to Georgia on Monday", Mr Miller said an endorsement there would "really shake things up in the political landscape".
Mr Trump faces an investigation in Georgia over a call to a Republican official in which he sought to overturn defeat by Joe Biden. In January, Democrats won both Georgia seats in the US Senate. – Guardian