Since losing his 2020 reelection bid, however, Trump has been badly marginalized.
, and the bully pulpit of the presidency now belongs to Trump’s vanquisher, Joe Biden. News organizations are far leerier of giving Trump airtime to spout lies about election fraud and vent his many grievances.Trump obviously craves a new platform that will help him regain the spotlight. But “Truth Social”—Trump’s planned social-media site, according to the new company’s prospectus—won’t come close to matching the perch he had on Twitter and Facebook.
An army of new social-media followers might stroke Trump’s ego, while providing a new vehicle for him to raise political donations he can use to further his role as Republican kingmaker. But Truth Social could also grow tiresome, fast. It will be little more than a Trump echo chamber, giving voice to Trump’s views and nothing more. Criticsthat the site’s terms of service require users not to “disparage, tarnish or otherwise harm … the site.
Looking past the obvious irony, that makes for a pretty boring operation. Twitter and Facebook allow and to some extent encourage disagreement, and disputes are one of the things that makes social media compelling. A glorified Trump blog, where all commenters agree with Trump, will not be. Trump will undoubtedly attack all the usual enemies, but he’ll be doing it from the sidelines. Instead of tearing down the mainstream from within, he’ll be tossing pebbles from outside.
Yet the company has some serious money behind it, including funding by Barclays Private Bank, with an 8.4% ownership stake, and Highbridge Capital—a JPMorgan Chase hedge fund—which has a 5.4% stake. Another investing firm, Saba Capital,