Trump’s Truth Social App Launches on Apple’s App Store on Presidents’ Day Holiday

Trump’s Truth Social App Launches on Apple’s App Store on Presidents’ Day Holiday
President Donald Trump boards Air Force One before departing Harlingen, Texas, on Jan. 12, 2021. Mandel Ngan/AFP via Getty Images
Katabella Roberts
Updated:

Former President Donald Trump’s new social media venture, Truth Social, launched shortly before Presidents’ Day on Apple’s App Store.

The app was available to download on Feb. 20 shortly before midnight Eastern time after Trump’s company said in January that it planned a full rollout in the first quarter of 2022.

Truth Social’s app store page detailing its version history shows that the first public version of the app—version 1.0—became available on Feb. 20. It reads, “Welcome to the first public release of Truth Social.”
Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and Digital World Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition vehicle, announced in October 2021 that they would merge to create the social media app.

Promoted as an alternative to Twitter, Truth Social allows users to set up a profile, connect with other users, and access the “truth feed,” where they can “get the scoop on the latest thoughts and activities from the people, organizations, and news outlets that interest [them],” according to the app store page.

The page also states that the app doesn’t discriminate on the basis of political ideology.

However, the rollout didn’t come without some technical issues.

Some users reported either having trouble registering for an account or that they were added to a waitlist and presented with a message that reads, “Due to massive demand, we have placed you on our waitlist. We love you, and you’re not just another member to us. But your waitlist number is below.”
Some users are also receiving an error message when they try to enter a birthdate, email, or phone number, which states, “Something went wrong. Please try again,” CNET reported.

According to Truth Social’s app store page, the current version 1.0.1 includes “bug fixes.”

For some users in Europe, the app still isn’t available for download.

“Every day, we bring on more and more Americans and we’re getting to you as quickly as possible,” TMTG CEO Devin Nunes told Fox News regarding the app.

“We’re doing something that is really ... just such a great opportunity for President Trump, for me, for our whole team that’s working at TMTG around the clock, especially as you see the excitement of people who have been booted from social media for the last two or three years. I mean, there’s excitement on our platform right now and people, it’s inspirational.

“Honestly, it’s just ... actually very moving for me to see people that are on the platform that have had their voice canceled—and that’s our main goal here is to give people their voice back.”

Trump’s app comes after he was booted off multiple social media platformsincluding Twitter and Facebookbefore he left office in January 2021, for allegedly violating the companies’ terms of service with some of his posts.

Big tech executives and lawmakers have accused him of encouraging violence during the Jan. 6, 2021, breach of the U.S. Capitol.

Trump has vehemently denied those claims.

In his last Facebook post, Trump called on the protesters at the Capitol to “go home peacefully.”

“We have to have peace. We have to have law and order. We have to respect our great people in law and order. We don’t want anybody hurt,” Trump wrote.

He also said the Nov. 3 election was fraught with voter fraud and maintains that he was the real winner of the 2020 presidential election.

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