SAN FRANCISCO: Donald Trump’s new social media app has begun a gradual rollout, but thousands of potential users on Monday experienced glitches or found themselves on a waitlist due to what the app called “massive demand.”
Devin Nunes, CEO of the Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), said the app, called Truth Social, would be “fully operational” by the end of March. TMTG is the parent company of the new app.
On Monday morning, Truth Social topped the chart of the most downloaded apps in Apple’s US App Store, beating out the likes of TikTok, YouTube and Instagram.
But trying to download it met with frustration.
Some people get the message: “Something went wrong. Please try again.”
An AFP reporter who tried to sign up on Monday went a step further and received a thank you note for joining, but added a message: “Due to high demand, we’ve put you on a waitlist.
“We love you, and you’re not just another number to us,” it said. “But your waitlist number is below: #170,174.”
Trump hopes Truth Social will help make up for his banning early last year by Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, and provide the Republican ex-president a fresh platform as he seeks to raise his profile in the run up to the 2024 elections.
The tech giants excluded Trump following the assault on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, amid accusations he had used social media to incite his followers to use force in a bid to overturn the result of the 2020 election.
Before being banned, Trump had some 89 million followers on Twitter and used the platform constantly, both for presidential statements and to attack rivals.
It was too early to know on Monday how many people might end up following the former president to his new online venue.
AFP asked TMTG for comment but did not immediately respond.
