Skip to content
Tech News
← Back to articles

The White House calls Truth Social the ‘most powerful and popular’ social media platform

read original get Cal Newport "Digital Minimalism" book → more articles
Why This Matters

The White House is publicly asserting that Truth Social, owned by the president, is the world's 'most powerful and popular' platform — a claim contradicted by third-party user and traffic data showing it isn't in the top 10 and is shrinking. The episode highlights how the administration's promotion of a Trump-owned business intersects with conflict-of-interest concerns, especially after the platform's $100,000-a-month early-access subscription.

Key Takeaways
Worth a Look

Cal Newport "Digital Minimalism" book — If debates over which social platform is really the biggest have you questioning how much of your day the feeds are eating, Cal Newport's Digital Minimalism is a great reset. It lays out a practical philosophy for using fewer apps more intentionally, which is a refreshing counterweight to user-count bragging rights.

See Cal Newport "Digital Minimalism" book on Amazon → Affiliate link — we may earn a commission on purchases, at no extra cost to you. Product picked by AI based on this article; it is not a tested recommendation.

is a news writer who covers the streaming wars, consumer tech, crypto, social media, and much more. Previously, she was a writer and editor at MUO.

Posts from this author will be added to your daily email digest and your homepage feed.

The White House claims the Donald Trump-owned Truth Social is the “most powerful and popular social media platform in the world.” The statement, provided to The New York Times by White House spokesperson Davis Ingle, is at odds with the user counts from some of the biggest social media platforms on the web.

Data gathered by Search Engine Land shows YouTube is the most popular platform in the world, with 2.65 billion monthly active users. Facebook comes in second with 2.39 billion active users around the globe, followed by TikTok with 2.21 billion and Instagram with 1.99 billion. Truth Social doesn’t make Search Engine Land’s top 10 list, which shows Elon Musk’s X and Meta’s Threads at the bottom with 450 million and 223 million users, respectively. Even those platforms trail Pinterest, which is listed with 579 million global users.

Truth Social’s traffic appears to be declining. As reported by the NYT, data from Similarweb suggests that the number of monthly visitors to Truth Social dipped 36 percent in July compared to the same time last year. From January to July 2025, an average of 28 million people visited Truth Social each month, while this number fell to 25 million during the first seven months of 2026, according to the NYT. Last month, Truth Social launched its $100,000 / month subscription to gain early access to posts from Trump and other prominent users, raising concerns about corruption.

The NYT report details Trump’s posting patterns on Truth Social, which often include AI-generated images, such as one showing his head on Hulk Hogan’s body and another hitting a cut-out of Iran with a hammer brandishing the American flag. Ingle cites President Trump’s “authentic voice” as the reason for the platform’s so-called popularity, adding it’s where “he communicates directly with the American people and the world without the biased media taking him out of context.”