Opinion: A new, unfiltered Trump social platform where lies will know no boundary

The entire reason Trump launched the app is because Facebook and Twitter banned him for inciting violence during the Jan 6, 2021, Capitol insurrection - a violent attack prompted by Trump’s 'big lie' that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. — Reuters

Former President Donald Trump, infamous for having lied tens of thousands of times during his presidency and now facing a subpoena in New York for possibly having lied on his financial forms and tax returns, is now launching an ironically named new social media app, Truth Social. The premise is the same as he has asserted since 2016, that traditional news media cannot be trusted and that they, not Trump, are the liars.

The app’s launch this week was a washout. Many people who registered to become “Truthsayers” kept receiving error messages or were told they’re on a waitlist. Those things happen with any new social media launch, but it’s consistent with Trump’s other major ventures that promised big results yet failed to deliver: luxury hotels that turn out to be cheaply furnished and overpriced, an airline that went bust, and a for-profit university that fell so far short of delivering on its promises that Trump wound up having to pay US$25mil (RM105mil) to bilked students. Prosecutors say he overvalued his properties to dupe banks into lending him money, then undervalued those properties to minimise his taxes.