In the wee hours of Friday morning, President-elect Donald Trump rekindled a familiar practice that many Americans recall vividly: the barrage of midnight posts on X, previously known as Twitter, that held sway over the platform during his tenure.
For the first time since his reinstatement on the platform, Trump delivered a volley of commentary, unfiltered and unmistakably his own, heralding a fresh phase in his political narrative.
Trump's exit from the then-Twitter platform occurred in 2021, in the aftermath of the January 6th Capitol events. The platform permanently suspended his account, pointing to the purported risk of further incitement of violence. According to RedState, Twitter stated, "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."
This was a significant setback for Trump, as Twitter had been his primary conduit for direct communication with the American public, circumventing what he famously branded as "fake news" mainstream media.
In retaliation to his de-platforming, Trump invested in the creation of Truth Social, a platform envisioned as a haven for conservative voices. Truth Social was intended to safeguard free speech and provide Trump with a direct communication channel with his followers. While the platform garnered support among his base, it never fully replicated the global reach that Twitter offered.
In late 2022, Elon Musk restored Trumps Twitter account after acquiring the platform and introducing comprehensive changes to its content moderation policies. Despite the reactivation of his account, Trump initially refrained from posting, concentrating instead on Truth Social.
On July 23, 2023, Musk officially renamed Twitter to X, dubbing it "the everything app." Trump recommenced posting on X, formerly Twitter, on August 24 of the same year.
His first post following his reinstatement showcased his now-iconic mugshot taken during his arrest in Fulton County, Georgia. The post has garnered 333 million views to date.
The image caption read, MUG SHOT - AUGUST 24, 2023, ELECTION INTERFERENCE, NEVER SURRENDER!
Following this dramatic reemergence, Trumps posts began to escalate in anticipation of the 2024 election season. However, his Friday midnight tirade reintroduces a dynamic that had been missing for nearly three years.
In a span of two minutes, Trump published four separate posts addressing a range of topics from tariffs to terrorism and national intelligence agencies.
In the first post of the series, he wrote, "The Tariffs, and Tariffs alone, created this vast wealth for our Country. Then we switched over to Income Tax. We were never so wealthy as during this period. Tariffs will pay off our debt and, MAKE AMERICA WEALTHY AGAIN!"
Next, he shifted his focus to President Joe Biden and the repercussions of his immigration policies, associating them with terrorism.
Trump wrote, "With the Biden Open Borders Policy I said, many times during Rallies, and elsewhere, that Radical Islamic Terrorism, and other forms of violent crime, will become so bad in America that it will become hard to even imagine or believe. That time has come, only worse than ever imagined. Joe Biden is the WORST PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF AMERICA, A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER. What he and his group of Election Interfering thugs have done to our Country will not soon be forgotten! MAGA"
In another post, Trump accused the Justice Department, FBI, and Democratic prosecutors of prioritizing attacks on him over safeguarding Americans.
Trump called for an immediate CIA intervention, writing, "Our Country is a disaster, a laughing stock all over the World! This is what happens when you have OPEN BORDERS, with weak, ineffective, and virtually nonexistent leadership. The DOJ, FBI, and Democrat state and local prosecutors have not done their job. They are incompetent and corrupt, having spent all of their waking hours unlawfully attacking their political opponent, ME, rather than focusing on protecting Americans from the outside and inside violent SCUM that has infiltrated all aspects of our government, and our Nation itself. Democrats should be ashamed of themselves for allowing this to happen to our Country. The CIA must get involved, NOW, before it is too late. The USA is breaking down - A violent erosion of Safety, National Security, and Democracy is taking place all across our Nation. Only strength and powerful leadership will stop it. See you on January 20th. MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!"
The President-elect concluded the rapid-fire session by writing, "TRUMP WAS RIGHT ABOUT EVERYTHING!"
As the final days of Joe Biden's presidency trudge on, the nation's news headlines depict a bleak scenariofrom violent and deadly crimes on the NYC subway system to a mass casualty New Years Eve attack in New Orleans.
Trumps midnight dispatches are more than just a nostalgic throwbacktheyre a glimpse into the future. With his caps-locked proclamations and biting critiques, hes rallying his base and signaling a return to the audacious leadership style that characterized his presidency.
For Trump and his supporters, the arrival of January 20 can't come soon enough.
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