Trump blog, supposed antidote to social media ban, goes dark

Donald Trump has cancelled his own blog, which was launched last month as a workaround to the former US president’s continuing ban from virtually all major social media platforms, an adviser has announced.

Trump aide Jason Miller told CNBC the blog “will not be returning”.

Named “From the Desk of Donald J Trump,” the blog on the donaldjtrump.com website was touted as a significant new outlet following Trump’s defeat in November and punishment by the top social media players for his role in stirring up rioters who stormed the US Congress on January 6.

Prior to that, Trump had used social media – particularly Twitter and Facebook – to spread misinformation claiming the presidential election was “stolen” or “rigged”, often earning warning labels from the sites.

Fox News heralded the blog – in fact a basic set-up where Trump could post statements – as a “communications platform”.

The Trump website itself described the blog’s appearance in even grander terms, calling it “a beacon of freedom” in a “time of silence and lies”.

Trump, also banned from Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in the wake of the Capitol mayhem, continues to promote the conspiracy theory that the 2020 election was stolen from him. The US Congress, however, has certified Biden’s victory, while Trump’s legal challenge has also failed.

In emailed statements and interviews with niche right-wing outlets like OAN, as well as the more mainstream Fox News, Trump has continued to claim without evidence that he was the victim of a conspiracy.

Now in place of his blog page, a form appears allowing sign-ups for alerts from the former president.

In early May, an independent oversight group upheld Trump’s ban from Facebook but said it was “not appropriate” for the social media giant to impose an indefinite suspension.

It called on Facebook to review the matter within six months.

Miller told CNBC that the blog had been “just auxiliary” to broader efforts at rebuilding Trump’s social media presence, though he said he did “not have a precise awareness of timing” on those plans.

Later, Miller responded to a suggestion that the blog’s demise was in preparation for Trump joining some other social medial platform, tweeting: “Yes, actually, it is. Stay tuned!”