Biography
Donald Trump served as the 45th President of the United States from 2017 to 2021 and returned as the 47th President in January 2025. His use of social media as a primary channel of presidential communication, and the platforms’ responses to it, are documented in the sections below.
@realDonaldTrump and the January 2021 Suspension
Trump conducted much of his first presidency through Twitter, posting policy positions, personnel decisions and attacks directly rather than through press releases or briefings. On 8 January 2021, two days after the attack on the Capitol, Twitter permanently suspended the account. The company published its reasoning at the time, quoting the two tweets at issue and stating that it had “permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” assessed against its Glorification of Violence policy. It noted that its public-interest framework “exists to enable the public to hear from elected officials and world leaders directly” but that such accounts “are not above our rules entirely and cannot use Twitter to incite violence.”
The suspension raised the question of whether a private platform’s rules applied to a sitting head of state, and it was followed by years of legislative and legal argument over platform regulation — including Justice Thomas’s concurrence in Biden v. Knight First Amendment Institute, which used a related dispute over the same account to argue for common-carrier regulation of platforms. The account was reinstated under Elon Musk’s ownership in November 2022; the reinstatement and the broader policy change are covered on the Twitter/X page.
Truth Social
Trump Media & Technology Group operates Truth Social. The company went public through a merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp.; at the closing, according to TMTG’s annual report, Trump beneficially held approximately 57.6% of the outstanding shares, and the revocable trust of which he is sole beneficiary holds approximately 41.1% of the voting power as of the 2025 annual report. Truth Social is a case in the period covered here of a national political figure responding to platform removal by acquiring control of a platform.
Second Term
Trump was inaugurated as the 47th President in January 2025. The White House lists him as the 45th and 47th President.
Sources
- 01.
The White House. Donald J. Trump — 45th & 47th President of the United States. Official administration biography. Source for the description of Trump as the 45th and 47th President. The page is written in the administration's own promotional voice and is cited here only for his offices held.
- 02.
Twitter, Inc.. Permanent suspension of @realDonaldTrump. (2021). Company post of Friday, 8 January 2021. Source for the suspension date and Twitter's stated reason: 'we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,' assessed 'against our Glorification of Violence policy.' The post quotes the two tweets on which the decision turned. blog.twitter.com now redirects to blog.x.com, which returns HTTP 403 to automated clients; the text was confirmed through the archived capture.
- 03.
U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Trump Media & Technology Group Corp. Annual Report (Form 10-K) for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2025. (2026). Filed February 27, 2026. Source for TMTG's operation of Truth Social and for Trump's ownership: at the closing of the merger with Digital World Acquisition Corp. he 'beneficially held approximately 57.6% of the outstanding shares of TMTG common stock,' and as of the report date the Donald J. Trump Revocable Trust, of which he is sole beneficiary, 'beneficially owns approximately 41.1% of the voting power.' The filing is written in the company's own advocacy voice and is cited here for ownership and corporate facts only.