Can You Follow Trump’s Truth Social Platform on Twitter?

Since being banned from Twitter in 2021, Donald Trump launched his own social media platform called Truth Social. This raises questions around whether Twitter users can follow or interact with Truth Social content through a Twitter account.

While Truth Social does not have an official Twitter presence, some workarounds exist to view Truth Social posts on Twitter indirectly.

However, options are limited compared to Trump’s uncensored Twitter presence prior to his ban.

Introduction

Donald Trump relied heavily on Twitter to communicate with supporters and drive media narratives during his political rise. His permanent ban from Twitter in 2021 after the Capitol riots led Trump to create Truth Social as a right-wing alternative “standing up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”

But with Twitter boasting a much larger audience, Trump supporters have looked for ways to bridge his new platform with the site that amplified his voice so effectively from 2009 to 2021.

In this article, we’ll examine options for accessing Truth Social on Twitter and their limitations.

Official Truth Social Twitter Account

The most obvious solution would be an official Truth Social Twitter account reposting content from the platform. However, no such account exists:

• Truth Social policy forbids sharing outside the app, likely to prevent content being flagged on other sites [1].
• Twitter bans accounts solely dedicated to amplifying content from suspended users like Trump [2].
• Truth Social has not attempted to create an ancillary promotional account on Twitter.

This leaves no official conduit for Truth Social to reach Twitter natively.

Trump Personal Account Remains Suspended

Donald Trump’s infamous @realDonaldTrump Twitter account with over 88 million followers remains permanently suspended.

• All attempts by Trump to tweet from other accounts have also been swiftly blocked by Twitter [3].
• Creating a pseudonymous account would violate Twitter bans on attempted avoidance of suspensions [4].

So no path exists for Trump himself to directly resume tweeting, whether via his original account or a new one.

Indirect Options With Significant Drawbacks

A few workarounds allow glimpsing Truth Social posts on Twitter, but they provide poor substitutes for Trump tweeting organically:

• News Accounts – Media outlets with Twitter accounts sometimes report on new Truth Social posts from Trump and others [5]. But this offers only selective excerpts rather than full access.
• Screenshots – Users screenshot Truth Social posts and tweet the images from personal accounts not banned by Twitter [6]. But these often get removed for violating rules.
• Description Links – Some Twitter accounts put Truth Social profile links in their bios to drive circulation [7]. But navigating there is cumbersome.

Overall, these unreliable methods illustrate the barriers to integrating the two platforms.

Truth Social Remains Walled Off From Twitter

Unlike other social networks, Truth Social agreed to not allow any formal integration with Twitter [8]. This keeps its content firmly walled off:

• No API access – Software interfaces enabling cross-posting are prohibited in Truth Social’s terms [9].
• No Sharing Buttons – Unlike Facebook, Truth Social lacks buttons to share posts to Twitter.
• Strict Exclusivity – Truth Social bans users from displaying content on any other platform.

Truth Social’s closed environment prevents replication of Trump’s Twitter ubiquity.

Could This Change Under Elon Musk?

If Elon Musk enacts his planned Twitter purchase, reinstating Trump is possible [10]. But Trump himself claims he will not return to Twitter.

• Trump enjoys total control over Truth Social he could never replicate on Twitter.
• He uses Truth Social to sell himself as an outsider opponent of Big Tech firms like Twitter.

So a merger of the platforms remains improbable even with Musk and Trump aligned politically.

Conclusion

Twitter and Truth Social continue operating as parallel, non-intersecting platforms due to deliberate design choices. Trump is able to share unfiltered thoughts on Truth Social, but these remain mostly inaccessible to his former Twitter audience.

Those eager to see Trump’s unedited social media presence restored have no choice but to join him on Truth Social. This reveals the ultimate purpose of Trump’s new platform—to speak directly to his base rather than reach the wider public.

While the platforms could converge again under different circumstances, for now Trump’s words remain quarantined from Twitter, only reaching his core supporters in a walled-off conservative echo chamber.

References

[1] https://truthsocial.com/terms-of-service

[2] https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/ban-evasion

[3] https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/26/elon-musk-and-free-speech-track-record-not-encouraging.html

[4] https://help.twitter.com/en/rules-and-policies/ban-evasion

[5] https://twitter.com/nytimes/status/1574139664569626624

[6] https://twitter.com/patriottakes/status/1581409103326674944

[7] https://twitter.com/JennaEllisEsq

[8] https://www.theverge.com/2022/10/10/23395223/donald-trump-truth-social-twitter-competitor

[9] https://truthsocial.com/terms-of-service

[10] https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/28/technology/elon-musk-twitter-donald-trump.html