In The End, Trump Will Screw Over Anyone: Including His ‘Own’ Social Media Company
In a move that seems unlikely to surprise anyone who has followed any bit of the life and career of former President Donald Trump, it appears that he is getting ready to come back to Twitter, in a process that will fuck over the social media site that he lent his name and brand to, and which he insisted would be a huge success and destroy Twitter.
As we noted in our post regarding the ridiculous process" Elon Musk used in deciding to reinstate the former President's Twitter account, Trump's contract with the Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG), the company that owns and runs his" social media app, Truth Social, includes a social media exclusivity term" that says he has to post to Truth Social six hours before posting to any other social media site. And the initial contract term was from December 22, 2021 for the following 18 months, with automatic renewals of 180 days at a shot, unless notice is given to end the deal.
From December 22, 2021, until the expiration of 18 months thereafter, (the TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term"), President Trump has agreed to first channel any and all social media communications and posts coming from his personal profile to the Truth Social platform before posting that same social media communication and/or post to any other social media platform that is not Truth Social (collectively, Non-TMTG Social Media") until the expiration of DJT/TMTG Social Media 6-Hour Exclusive" which means the period commencing when DJT posts any social media communication onto the Truth Social Platform and ending six (6) hours thereafter; provided that he may post social media communications from his personal profile that specifically relates to political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts at any time on any Non-TMTG social media platforms. Unless notice is given, the TMTG Social Media Exclusivity Term extends in perpetuity for additional 180-day terms.
From that, it appears that Trump is technically supposed to keep posting on Truth Social first until June 22 of this year. Can Trump last five more months? According to Rolling Stone, he's already telling people that he's not going to allow the exclusivity agreement to re-up:
Since late last year, former President Trump has informed several people close to him that he doesn't want to re-up the exclusivity agreement with his social media company, Truth Social, two sources familiar with the matter tell Rolling Stone. There's not going to be a need for that," is how one of the sources recalls Trump describing his soon-to-expire contractual obligation.
NBC is also noting that not only has Trump formally petitioned" Facebook to let him return (the company had promised to reevaluate his use of the site this month), but also that he's been brainstorming with people about what his big return tweet will be. As long as it doesn't involve him carrying a sink into the Twitter office, he'll do better than Elon.
Trump is probably coming back to Twitter. It's just a question of how and when," said a Republican who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss private conversations with Trump about returning to the platform. He's been talking about it for weeks, but Trump speaks for Trump, so it's anyone's guess what he'll do or say or when."
Another Trump confidant who also didn't want to be identified speaking about conversations with him said that Trump has sought input for weeks about hopping back on Twitter and that his campaign advisers have also workshopped ideas for his first tweet.
Poor Devin Nunes. Shafted yet again by Twitter, and (like so many before him) stabbed in the back by Trump, despite his puppy dog loyalty.
Of course, Trump would be returning to a very different Twitter, manned by someone at aggressively thin skinned and desperate for adulation as himself. And who has turned Twitter into quite a dump, with constant technical problems, a wacky new recommendation algorithm, and lots of other users abandoning ship. It would be just like Trump, though, to leap from his own" social media site to a sinking ship of Twitter.