In the month since the launch of Truth Social, Donald Trump’s social media app, the former president hasn’t posted on it once.
Mr Trump, who was banned from Twitter after the January 2021 Capitol riot, founded the app with the help of a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). On 15 February, the ex-president posted on it for the first time.
“Get Ready!” he wrote. “Your favorite President will see you very soon!”
Since then, Truth users have not seen him. The app went live on 21 February, but Mr Trump did not post on that day either. Now an entire month has passed, and some are wondering if the former president has lost interest in the project.
“This is odd,” Maggie Haberman, a New York Times reporter who closely follows Mr Trump’s activities, commented on Twitter.
Truth Social appeared to get off to a strong start, rising to the top of the Apple App Store on the day of its launch. Mr Trump helped to build up the anticipation, hailing the app as a forum where his conservative fans could speak freely.
“I created TRUTH Social … to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech,” the former president said through his spokeswoman, who is still on Twitter. “I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon.”
But since then, the app has been beset with technical difficulties. Users who downloaded it were given a waitlist number for when they’d be able to start posting. Weeks later, they were still waiting.
“I created my account within 5 minutes of it going live,” one Truth user complained on Twitter. “My email said my waitlist number was 25,021. I got up the next morning [and] it had jumped. And hasn’t moved in a week!”
“I’m losing interest in Truth,” another grumbled. “They never let anyone new in, so there’s not many people there.”
“I started at number 1800 or so,” another disappointed user said. “Now im 94k. And it’s not updating. I’m pretty much over it.”
On Twitter, Truth said its glitches were a byproduct of its enormous popularity.
“There were bound to be technical difficulties due to the (@therock voice) millions and millions of people signing up and downloading the TRUTH Social app,” the company tweeted. “The Truth is it’s here and not going away. #TruthSocial #Patience”
The Independent has reached out to Mr Trump for comment.
