In a move many thought wasn’t contractually possible, Donald Trump has fully returned to X after a years-long hiatus that was only interrupted by a single fundraising post in 2023.
On Monday the former president bombarded the platform with campaign messaging indicating that this isn’t a one-off situation. It was a surprising, yet welcome shift in strategy in the face of Joe Biden being forced out of the presidential race, a development that has scrambled the presidential race.
Until this point, it was widely assumed that Trump couldn’t post on X due obligations to his social media platform, Truth Social. That appears to not be the case.
Are you better off now than you were when I was president?
Our economy is shattered. Our border has been erased. We’re a nation in decline.
Make the American Dream AFFORDABLE again. Make America SAFE again. Make America GREAT Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024
As of this writing, Trump’s account has put out five posts already, and they seem to be coming out every few hours. It’s also pretty obvious the former president isn’t the one doing the posting. Instead, the messages are well-curated and professionally presented. They aren’t in all caps. They aren’t rants about Brian Kemp and Joe Rogan. They are a complete shift in tone.
To take a bit of a victory lap, I suggested this exact thing nearly three weeks ago at the beginning of Kamala Harris’ entry into the race.
For those confused, I said “his team.”
Use the account to post campaign messages and promotions. I’m not suggesting Trump himself use it to rant aimlessly at 3AM.
— Bonchie (@bonchieredstate) July 26, 2024
The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one. Trump revamping his social media game, including handing control of his account (seemingly for the first time) to campaign operatives needed to happen. It was too big of a tool in the toolbox to keep hidden away and unused. Truth Social is a tiny bubble. It’s the epitome of preaching to the choir. Coming back to X means he can reach tens of millions of followers and he can ad-boost posts that will reach millions more (which he’s currently doing).
This wasn’t a random decision. The Trump campaign is on rocky ground right now due to a relentlessly dishonest propaganda push by the mainstream press that has sought to completely redefine Harris despite her terrible track record.
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There are still almost three months until election day, though. There’s time to regain the initiative and pull this thing out. Is getting back on X going to be the deciding factor? Probably not, but it could be one of the factors that gets Trump over the finish line. With this much at stake, every thread must be pulled on.
