After enduring years of media antagonism, Trump seeks to disrupt industry with his own platform

After years of enduring antagonistic and sometimes inaccurate media treatment of himself and his supporters, Donald J. Trump has decided to build his own media empire, complete with a subscription TV network and social media platform that promises to eschew censorship and embrace traditional American values.

 

The 45th president announced Wednesday night the formation of the publicly traded Trump Media & Technology Group, whose first public asset promises to be a new social platform called TRUTH Social.

"I created TRUTH Social and TMTG to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech," Trump said in a statement announcing the network. "We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American President has been silenced. This is unacceptable. I am excited to send out my first TRUTH on TRUTH Social very soon."

The social app is expected to launch in November and be fully operational by the first quarter of 2022.

The new media group has tapped as its leader Scott St. John, the executive producer of popular programs "Deal or No Deal" and "America's Got Talent," who has produced more than 1,000 hours of network and cable TV.

The network is designed to "give a voice to all" and form "a rival to the liberal media consortium," Trump said.

Jason Miller, a former Trump adviser and the CEO of GETTR social media, unsuccesfully negotiated to get Trump to join his platform. But he offered his support to his former boss for starting the new endeavor.

"Congratulations to President Trump for re-entering the social media fray!" Miller wrote in a statement. "Now Facebook and Twitter will lose even more market share. President Trump has always been a great deal-maker, but we just couldn't come to terms on a deal." 

Mainstream media reporters mocked the announcement, continuing to remain decidedly un-neutral on all things Trump.

"If you didn't know, would you think this was real or parody?" Washington Post National Correspondent Phillip Bump tweeted out.