Former Pres. Trump returns to Facebook for the first time since being banned in 2021

Former President Trump posted on Facebook for the first time since being banned in the wake of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol. Read More...

Former President Donald Trump has posted to Facebook for the first time since parent company Meta (META) reinstated his account in January. In the post, Trump wrote “I’M BACK!” and attached a brief clip from his 2016 presidential win in which he’s flanked by his son Barron Trump and former Vice President Mike Pence.

Meta restored Trump’s Facebook and Instagram accounts in January after suspending them in the wake of the Jan. 6 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol by Trump supporters seeking to halt the certification of the 2020 election.

Trump’s post comes just hours after Alphabet’s (GOOG, GOOGL) YouTube reinstated Trump’s account on the social media platform, citing a need to allow candidates for public office to be heard by voters.

Former U.S. President Donald Trump delivers remarks on education as he holds a campaign rally with supporters, in Davenport, Iowa, U.S. March 13, 2023. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

“We carefully evaluated the continued risk of real-world violence, while balancing the chance for voters to hear equally from major national candidates in the run up to an election,” read a statement on YouTube’s Twitter account.

Trump will be on a short leash on Meta’s platforms, though. According to Nick Clegg, the company’s president of global affairs, Trump, “faces heightened penalties for repeat offenses – penalties which will apply to other public figures whose accounts are reinstated from suspensions related to civil unrest under our updated protocol.”

If Trump does violate Meta’s terms of service, the offending content will be removed and he’ll face a suspension of between one month and two years, depending on the severity of the violation.

While he’s posted to Facebook, Trump still hasn’t posted anything on his Twitter account, which previously served as his de facto bully pulpit.

Shares of Digital World Acquisitions Corp. (DWAC) the blank check company set up to take Trump’s Truth Social platform public via a reverse merger were down less than 1% in after market trading. The company’s stock is off as much as 81% in the last 12 months.

Got a tip? Email Daniel Howley at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at @DanielHowley.

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