The same has happened with much of the political universe, which has become obsessed with bleary eyes on Twitter for the past four years, as Trump used the means to fire advisers, sink legislative initiatives, encourage social coercion, and lastly, praise the faithful of MAGA, just days after hundreds of them violently looted the Capitol.
In a statement released by the White House, Trump said he was “negotiating with several other sites” while “we are also looking at the possibilities of building our own platform in the near future.” But the advisers did not reveal what plans were underway. When Trump’s eldest son Don Jr. offered a URL to those who hoped to know his father’s whereabouts, it was a website that had been purchased in 2009 and, in recent years, a place where his books were sold. For those who signed up, an email was sent with their latest work: “Privilege Liberal”.
“As you know, the election is coming,” he said, of the dispute that took place two months ago.
For Trump, the Twitter ban was yet another inglorious passage to the final chapter of his presidency. In the past two days, he has been warned by his own advisers, punished by Republicans and once again threatened with impeachment.
For all of this, he has been strangely quiet – temporarily banned at first from major social media platforms, but he also doesn’t want to go out and talk before the press. The only times the public saw him were through strangely edited videos produced by the White House. In one, he called for the riots to end while he clung to the fiction that the election had been stolen from him. In another, he admitted that he would not serve a second consecutive term.
There are also no plans to leave the cocoon immediately. A White House official said there had been initial internal discussions between White House advisers and Trump about conducting a “last farewell interview”. But, added the employee, “I’m not sure they will bear fruit,” much to the employee’s chagrin.
“I don’t want the lasting impression of this administration to be what happened on Capitol Hill,” said the official. “We have many achievements from this management that should be highlighted so that we can leave a good final impression.”
Trump took office boasting of being the “140-character Hemingway” and crediting Twitter in particular for boosting his political rise. More than 56,000 tweets later, he leaves him in the middle of a futile game of Whac-A-Mole with the tech tycoons he despises, exiled in the outer provinces of the Internet.
If this is how the Trump presidency ends, it will be a notable final note. As a candidate for a post, he was – sometimes – ubiquitous: posting outrageous takes on Twitter, calling cable news and drawing the attention of the camera, even when the podium on which he was assigned to conduct a campaign rally was empty. Now he is increasingly isolated and moving away from the spotlight. His favorite megaphone is gone; oh, and the presidency too.