Trump social media app gearing up for launch

Conservative figures are increasingly promoting Truth Social, the alternative social media app backed by former President Donald Trump, as the platform undergoes pre-launch testing.

And as more images of the app have surfaced, the more Truth Social appears to be a direct clone of Twitter (TWTR), the social network of choice for Trump before he was kicked off the platform.

On Tuesday, Donald Trump Jr. tweeted a purported screenshot of the app, showing what appeared to be the former president’s first post on the service.

“Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!” the elder Trump’s message said.

A larger screenshot of the same post shared by Liz Willis, an executive at Right Side Broadcasting, a conservative media company, appeared to reveal much more of the app, including a layout that closely resembles Twitter, down to the engagement buttons beneath every post.

“Beta testing the new ‘Truth Social’ app and all I can say is, y’all are going to LOVE it!” Willis said in a separate tweet.

Willis told Reuters she received an email Tuesday stating that “T Media Tech LLC has invited you to test Truth Social.” There are said to be about 500 beta testers using an early version of “Truth Social,” according to Reuters, citing two unnamed sources.

On Tuesday, the YouTube alternative Rumble – which is popular with conservatives – announced its first post on Truth Social, saying that its technology would help display videos on the new platform.

Truth Social’s page on Apple’s App Store continues to display an expected official launch date of Feb. 21, President’s Day – though the actual release could come later.

The app’s looming release comes a year after major social media services including Facebook (FB), Twitter and YouTube suspended Trump following the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. After leaving the White House, Trump went on to found the conservative media entity behind Truth Social, Trump Media and Technology Group.

Former Rep. Devin Nunes, who left Congress to become the media group’s CEO, said Wednesday that the beta testing for Truth Social involves “bringing people on the platform very, very slowly” but that “every day we bring on more and more people.”

“[We’re] trying to do it methodically because we’re having to build this from scratch in order to make sure we can’t be canceled and can’t be shut down,” Nunes told Sebastian Gorka, Trump’s former deputy national security adviser, in an interview on Gorka’s podcast.

Nunes added that he expects Truth Social to be fully open to the public by the end of March. (CNN with Additional reporting from Reuters)