With access to his Twitter account already granted by Elon Musk, Trump and his presidential campaign have formally petitioned Facebook’s parent company Meta to unblock his account there after a two-year lock out.
“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign wrote in its letter to Meta on Tuesday, according to a copy reviewed by NBC News.
In response to the violence at the Capitol in January 2021, Facebook and Twitter banned Trump. Twitter’s decision was for a permanent ban, but was reversed when Musk bought the company. Facebook instituted a ban that would be re-evaluated after two years.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment about Trump beyond saying the company “will announce a decision in the coming weeks in line with the process we laid out.”
An unnamed Republican said Trump has been talking about returning to Twitter, and his campaign handlers have been working on a “first Tweet.”
“He’s been talking about it for weeks, but Trump speaks for Trump, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do or say or when.”
Another Trump whisperer said his campaign believes Facebook will ultimately honor the two-year ban and reinstate him but that it’s prepared to engage with House Republicans who control the lower chamber of Congress to advocate on Trump’s behalf and pressure Meta.