WASHINGTON – Former President Donald Trump launched a new website designed to stay in touch with supporters.
Trump’s office announced the site, 45office.com, in a statement Monday night, The Hill reports. The site allows people to send comments, request an appearance or request a greeting.
It also includes brief summaries of Trump’s and former first lady Melania Trump’s time in the White House.
The site comes as Trump has remained suspended or banned from major social media outlets, including Twitter and Facebook, following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During the attack, a mob of Trump supporters stormed the building as Congress was convened to certify then-President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. They broke windows, scaled walls and forced lawmakers to evacuate. The siege resulted in five deaths.
Many, at least in part, pinned the riot on Trump’s rhetoric surrounding the 2020 presidential election.
He repeatedly made false claims that the election was stolen from him and, at a rally shortly before the attack, told his supporters to march on Capitol Hill, saying they “have to show strength.”
The U.S. House of Representatives impeached Trump one week later on a charge that he incited an insurrection — making him the only U.S. president to be impeached more than once. He was later acquitted of the impeachment article by the Senate in February.
Twitter locked Trump’s account, which he frequently used to tout false claims about the election, for at least 12 hours following the Jan. 6 attack.
Shortly after his account was unlocked, Twitter made the decision to permanently ban him from the platform, which the company said was due to concerns Trump would incite more violence.
Facebook, which also owns Instagram, has indefinitely suspended Trump’s account while it says an oversight board reviews the decision.
Trump previously launched the “Office of the Former President” in Florida as a way to issue public statements and manage his public appearances and activities a few days after leaving office in late January.
Jason Miller, a spokesperson for Trump, told Fox News’s “Media Buzz” this month that the former president is planning to create his own social media site.
Trump’s Twitter ban has been a topic of debate. A Pew Research study conducted from Jan. 19-24 found 58% of U.S. adults agree banning Trump from social media platforms was the right thing to do while 41% said it was not.
Supporters of the ban have questioned why platforms didn’t take action sooner while critics have called it an attack on free speech or expressed concern about social media companies being able to make such decisions.
But some legal experts have said suspending or banning Trump’s accounts doesn’t violate the First Amendment as social media outlets are private companies.
