Former President Donald Trump is reportedly returning to Facebook and Twitter following his re-election campaign announcement.
On Tuesday, Trump’s campaign sent a letter to Meta Inc., the parent company of Facebook, formally petitioning the social media platform to unblock the ex-president’s account after it was locked in response to the Jan. 6 Capitol riots.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” the letter stated.
Facebook and Twitter banned Trump a day after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol and interfered with Congress as it was counting the electoral votes to certify Joe Biden’s victory for president in 2020. Many of these supporters have admitted in federal court that they were roused by Trump’s claims of a stolen election.
Facebook ultimately decided to impose a limited ban on Trump that would come up for review after two years, starting Jan. 7 of this year. Twitter had meant to ban Trump permanently, but new owner Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s account on Nov. 19.
“Trump is probably coming back to Twitter. It’s just a question of how and when,” said an anonymous Republican familiar with the situation. “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 anonymous Trump adviser said that while his campaign believes Facebook will eventually uphold the two-year ban and allow Meta to post again, it is ready to work with House Republicans, who have control of the lower chamber of Congress, to advocate for Trump and exert pressure.
“If Facebook wants to have this fight, fine, but the House is leverage, and keeping Trump off Facebook just looks political,” the adviser said.
This comes after Trump formally announced last November that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024.
“In order to make America great and glorious again, I am tonight announcing my candidacy for president of the United States,” he said in front of a crowd gathered at Mar-a-Lago, where his campaign will be headquartered.
Trump still holds a plurality of support among Republicans. A recent NYT/Siena survey found that nearly 50 percent of GOP voters said they want Trump to run in 2024, while 25 percent named Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis.
