Insights
Trump Trial Not Driving Truth Social Engagement
As former President Trump’s trial began in Manhattan, he broadcast his complaints on his own social network – but digital metrics were flat or down slightly.
Since last month’s IPO of Trump Media & Technology Group, the company that runs Truth Social, we’ve been watching as engagement with the social network briefly surged, while still remaining lower than it was a year ago.
Some might have expected that trajectory to change this week with the start of the trial in which prosecutors allege former President Trump violated campaign laws by arranging for hush money payments to a porn star. So far, engagement with Trump’s digital media has remained flat or even down slightly.
Anemic engagement
The Truth Social daily active user count for iOS and Android apps in the US was about 106K on Monday April 22 and 114K on Tuesday April 23, the first two days of the trial, compared to an average of 116K for the prior days in April, according to Similarweb estimates.
The most recent peak in activity was March 8, when the app came close to 148K daily active users. Smaller surges followed around the time of the IPO. But for the month of March, Truth Social had 21% fewer monthly active users than it did in March 2023. All of these figures are focused on web and app activity from within the US.
The pattern of web traffic to truthsocial.com is similar, peaking in March but fading since then.
Trump under fire
When former President Donald J. Trump is under fire, he often seems to benefit by building social media buzz around his complaints of being treated unfairly. Following his exile from Twitter, he now gets his message out through his own social network, Truth Social. Despite being invited back to Twitter in its incarnation as X, he has only posted there once (although his Truth Social content is reposted there).
Whether the audience Trump commands is big enough to sustain a real business is questionable, given how much larger social networks have struggled to make a profit.
Some opinion polls continue to show Trump’s reelection campaign benefitting from the attention more than it is being hurt by the allegations against him. And it’s true that voters who do not participate in Truth Social still see Trump’s posts as screenshots on TV news and quotes in other news media.
Yet for investors questioning whether Trump Media makes sense as an investment, rather than a political endorsement, it does look like Trump’s standing as a social media market maker has faded.
The Similarweb Insights & Communications team is available to pull additional or updated data on request for the news media (journalists are invited to write to press@similarweb.com). When citing our data, please reference Similarweb as the source and link back to the most relevant blog post or similarweb.com/blog/insights/.
Contact: For more information, please write to press@similarweb.com.
Report By: David F. Carr, Senior Insights Manager
Disclaimer: All names, brands, trademarks, and registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners. The data, reports, and other materials provided or made available by Similarweb consist of or include estimated metrics and digital insights generated by Similarweb using its proprietary algorithms, based on information collected by Similarweb from multiple sources using its advanced data methodologies. Similarweb shall not be responsible for the accuracy of such data, reports, and materials and shall have no liability for any decision by any third party based in whole or in part on such data, reports, and materials.
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