Truth Social Expected to Face Complete Shutdown Within Weeks as Trump Indictment Becomes Nearly Certain

     It's been a bad 21 months for Donald J. Trump. As bad as it has been, it appears the next 21 months and beyond could be even worse for him. As if the month of August being dominated by the search of his property at Mar-a-Lago in Florida wasn't enough, the future of his signature post-presidential business venture, Truth Social, has just been cast into serious doubt.

     The Google Play Store, which services roughly 44 percent of mobile customers, announced that it would no longer offer Truth Social over content violations. This is not unexpected news: Truth Social, Gab, Parler, and other sites make themselves "free speech zones" free of moderation. This draws the worst fringe elements of society, people who have been barred from apps like Twitter and Facebook, with all their flaws, for hateful, violent, and false activity. The simple fact of the matter is that no company wants to be associated with this: if, as has happened before, some mass shooter were to post a hateful manifesto on Truth Social, Parler, or Gab, these companies not only expose themselves to potential liability for failing to act, but any company that hosts these apps themselves also exposes themselves to liability. Hence the removal of Truth Social from the Google Play Store.

     That's not even the worst bit of news for Trump surrounding Truth Social: Google's content policies are widely considered to be less stringent than those of Apple, which services around 55 percent of mobile users. Apple has already been under pressure for months to ditch Truth Social, and the announcement by Google only increases that pressure. If Apple follows Google, Truth Social will have lost 99 percent of its users and 99 percent of any potential future users. While still far too large, Truth Social is already microscopic compared to other social media companies. The loss of 99 percent of users would be enough to sink any social media company, but especially one the size of Truth Social with relatively few dedicated staff.

     Everyone remembers what happened with Donald Trump's blog, which was halted after gaining a pathetically small number of views for a blog run by the former president and current figurehead of one of America's two major political parties. It lasted all of a month. Now, Apple has the power to make Truth Social the second failed venture of Donald Trump's post-presidency (albeit just one of dozens of business failures over the course of the past five decades). The simple fact of the matter is that being toxic may get you the votes of some scumbags filled with hate, but it will not get you far in the business world. Donald Trump knows this: he is just trying to skate by. The image he built was barely enough to get him by in the business world, and his more disturbing image was barely enough to get him by in the political world. He has tried to carry that latter one back into the business world, and it has been failing miserably.

     The likely loss of Truth Social would be nothing compared to a criminal indictment on felony counts of espionage and obstruction of justice. These charges, as I've already said, would likely earn Trump a years-long prison sentence if he were to be convicted. At nearly 80 years old, that is practically a life sentence. Donald Trump has only made himself look worse to the general public if not his cult following with his moves since the FBI search of his home on August 8th. Aside from the multiple acts of political violence in his name, his attorneys have made bizarre, legally baseless arguments that often contradict their own court filings and the words of other Trump attorneys on network television.

     The DOJ fears Trump committed espionage and tried to obstruct justice, and the past month has made an indictment for just those crimes nearly certain. Trump has repeatedly made it clear that he was personally aware of and involved in the retention of classified documents that were found in Mar-a-Lago, and his attorneys have signed documents claiming that he turned over all classified information when, in reality, he did not. In October 2021, federal agencies expressed concern over an increase in the loss of human intelligence, i.e. American spies in hostile countries being killed. Not only has it been discovered that dozens of files with that information are missing, but the FBI has since raided the home of at least one Russian oligarch.

     For now, let's keep up the pressure on Apple to sign the death warrant for Truth Social. Then, let's hope the DOJ is able to get the facts it needs to sign the arrest warrant for Donald J. Trump, the worst president America has ever had.