Former US President Donald Trump on Wednesday decided to permanently shut down his official blogpost amid reports that it was receiving a lower readership. Jason Miller, a senior aide to Trump, confirmed the development on Twitter and said that it will not be returning. “It was just auxiliary to the broader efforts we have and are working on,” Miller said in a CNBC report.
This comes less than a month after the platform titled, From the Desk of Donald J Trump, was launched in May for Trump to speak directly to his supporters. It was launched after Facebook and Twitter banned him from their platform for inciting violence in January which led to thousands of American storming of the US Capitol during the formal counting of electoral votes.
Those who attempt to visit the page are now greeted with a message asking them to sign up for alerts from Donald J Trump via email or text message. There is also a form, where the user will add their personal details to register.
Responding to a query on the micro-blogging site, Miller also said that it was a precursor to him joining another social media platform. According to several local media reports, Trump will launch a new platform for which the team is yet to announce a date.
Earlier in May, Trump downplayed the blog post’s purpose as the Washington Post reported that it was attracting fewer visitors and failed to gain traction on the internet over the days. “This is meant to be a temporary way of getting my thoughts and ideas out to the public without the Fake News spin, but the website is not a ‘platform,'” Trump said in a statement in May.
“It is merely a way of communicating until I decide on what the future will be for the choice or establishment of a platform,” the former US President also said.