Twitter Stock Price Struggles As Donald Trump’s Truth Social Launch Approaches

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Former President Donald Trump’s social media site TRUTH Social could launch on Feb. 21, as the former president marks more than a year since he was removed from Twitter.

The move comes as Twitter has experienced a drop in its stock price in recent months and some conservatives have switched to alternative platforms like Gettr and Gab.

Twitter is widely considered Trump’s favorite social media site and he often posts several tweets a day highlighting the accomplishments of his administration, and strongly criticizing political opponents and others.

TRUTH Social was developed by Trump Media and Technology Group (TMTG) and is available to pre-order now in Apple’s App Store and the February 21 launch date is listed for the app on January 6.

That means a potential launch on Presidents Day.

However, the launch date was later removed from the list, and an article from The Washington Post on Jan. 10 reported that it could be several months before the site’s actual launch, citing unnamed sources.

The newspaper also reported that Trump was disappointed with the speed of development of the social media site.

It remains unclear if the app will actually launch on iOS on February 21. It’s also unclear when it will launch on the web and Android, but an unnamed source confirmed to Reuters on January 6 that February 21 is the intended launch date.

The App Store shows screenshots from TRUTH Social indicating that it may be a “clone” of Twitter, as the design will be familiar to Twitter users. The former president was permanently banned from Twitter on January 8, 2021, two days after the unrest events at the Capitol on January 6.

He was previously suspended on Jan. 6 before receiving a permanent ban. The former president had 88 million followers at the time.

The expected launch of TRUTH Social came as Twitter saw a dramatic drop in its stock price. Twitter closed at $ 37.28 per share on Thursday, representing a 0.19 percent drop over the previous day. That fall continues at writing time on Friday morning.

The company’s stock price has dropped 14.92 percent in the past month, while tech stocks in general have seen a recent fall along with the tech-heavy NASDAQ entering correction territory.

Correction is a term used on Wall Street to describe a sell-off in which prices have dropped 10 percent from a recent peak. That peak occurred on the NASDAQ on November 22, 2021 and the index fell 10.7 percent from that high on Thursday.

Netflix, Amazon and Microsoft have all seen recent declines, with Netflix being the hardest hit and experiencing a 26.4 percent fall in its share price since the company’s stock price hit the highest of all on Nov. 17, 2021.

The TRUTH Social website currently encourages visitors to pre-order the app from Apple’s App Store and encourages people to join a “waiting list” by providing their details and email address, but does not say when the site will launch.

The site describes itself as “America’s ‘Big Tent’ social media platform that encourages open, free, and honest global dialogue without discrimination against political ideology.”

Newsweek asked Trump Media and Technology Group for comment.

Former President Donald Trump looks at his phone at a roundtable in the State Dining Room of the White House June 18, 2020 in Washington, DC. Trump’s social media site, TRUTH Social, could launch soon. Alex Wong/Getty Images

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