WASHINGTON — President Trump's Twitter account is gone, but it remains part of his official presidential archive.
A spokesperson for the National Archives and Records Administration on Saturday said the agency consulted with Twitter about preserving a record of Trump's tweets. The president's personal Twitter account has been archived since he took office in January 2017.
Additionally, tweets from both Trump's personal @RealDonaldTrump account and the official @POTUS account are covered under the Presidential Records Act.
"The National Archives will receive, preserve, and provide public access to all official Trump Administration social media content, including deleted posts from @realDonaldTrump and @POTUS," a statement from the National Archives said. "The White House has been using an archiving tool that captures and preserves all content, in accordance with the Presidential Records Act and in consultation with National Archives officials. The records will be turned over to the National Archives beginning on January 20, 2021, and they will eventually be made available on a Trump Presidential Library website. For more information please visit: Records released in response to Presidential Records Act (PRA) questions under the Trump Administration."
PREVIOUS | Twitter permanently suspends President Trump's account
On Friday night, Twitter permanently suspended Trump's account two days after rioters stormed the U.S. Capitol leading to the deaths of five people, including a Capitol Police officer. Facebook also blocked Trump from its site indefinitely on Thursday.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter's announcement said.
Historians, journalists and people interested in a time when 280 characters could serve as a presidential bullhorn and shape national and international policy will have other ways to access Trump's tweets.
The Trump Twitter Archive has a searchable list of Trump's 56,571 tweets beginning with his first from May 4, 2009 ("Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight!") to his last ("To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.").
Los Angeles Times reporter Matt Stiles also archived Trump's tweets hours before Twitter banned the president from its platform.
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