Trump announces plans to launch new social network 'Truth Social'

WASHINGTON — Former United States (US) president Donald Trump announced plans on Wednesday (Oct 20) to launch his own social networking platform called "Truth Social," which is expected to begin its beta launch for "invited guests" next month.

The long-awaited platform will be owned by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which also intends to launch a subscription video on-demand service that will feature "non-woke" entertainment programming, the group said in a statement.

"I created Truth Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech," Mr Trump, who was banned from Twitter and Facebook in the wake of the Capitol insurrection carried out by his supporters on Jan 6 this year, was quoted as saying in the statement. 

"We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favourite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable," he continued.

The Trump Media & Technology Group will merge with blank check company Digital Acquisition Corp to make TMTG a publicly-listed company, the statement said.

"The transaction values Trump Media & Technology Group at an initial enterprise value of US$875 Million (S$1.1 billion), with a potential additional earnout of US$825 Million in additional shares (at the valuation they are granted) for a cumulative valuation of up to US$1.7 Billion depending on the performance of the stock price post-business combination," it stated.

Ever since he was banned from the world's dominant social networks as punishment for stirring up the mob that ransacked Congress on Jan 6, Mr Trump has been looking for ways to reclaim his internet platform.

In May he launched a blog called "From the Desk of Donald J. Trump," which was touted as a major new outlet.

But Mr Trump, who was also banned from Instagram, YouTube and Snapchat in the wake of the Capitol mayhem, cancelled the blog just a month later.

Former Trump aide Jason Miller launched a social network called Gettr earlier this year, but the former president has not yet joined it. AFP