Donald J. Trump was sworn into office on Friday as the 45th President of the United States. Seeing as Barack Obama, the now-former commander-in-chief, was known as the first social media president, Trump has some pretty big shoes to fill when it comes to his online interactions with the public. One thing’s for sure: The new president is no stranger to social media, and he won’t be ditching his infamous @realDonaldTrump Twitter account any time soon.
The new Twitter accounts Trump and his administration will inherit include @POTUS for President Trump, @FLOTUS for the First Lady Melania Trump, @VP for Vice President Mike Pence, @PressSec for Press Secretary Sean Spicer, and @WhiteHouse. Similarly, the White House username and URL for Facebook and Instagram will shift to the Trump administration.
Wasting no time, Trump sent his first tweet on Friday using the official Inauguration Day hashtag and an emoji of the American flag, along with a link to his inauguration speech transcript on his personal Facebook page. He followed it up with another tweet a few hours later.
The White House has been planning the unprecedented social media transition for months. The move sees Trump’s administration inherit the 15 million followers that come with the @POTUS and @WhiteHouse accounts. Both Twitter presences were wiped of all previous tweets earlier Friday. If you followed these accounts while Obama was in office, you’ll continue to follow them now — unless, of course, you decide to stop.
If you wish to relive the days of the Obama presidency, you can find his administration’s tweets archived at a set of new accounts, including @POTUS44, @FLOTUS44, and @VP44. The entirety of the previous administration’s social media history has also been preserved by the White House in its own public digital archive.
At present, Trump is staying true to his word and tweeting from his personal account. The president actually shared a series of tweets from the @realDonaldTrump profile before his team took tover the @POTUS account. Meanwhile, Melania Trump’s @FLOTUS account does not contain any posts as of yet. Despite a number of surveys indicating that the public thinks Trump should steer clear of sharing his thoughts on Twitter, it doesn’t seem like the president has taken the advice — so don’t go unfollowing his personal accounts if you want to get an insight into his candid opinions.
