what is truth?

'Your favorite president will see you soon,' Trump writes in first 'truth' on TRUTH Social beta

Pontius Pilate once asked, "What is truth?" Jesus of Nazareth didn't respond, but if former President Donald Trump had been in Jerusalem that day, he might have had an answer ready.

Trump's new social network, TRUTH Social, is almost exactly like Twitter but with red verification checkmarks, "truths" instead of "tweets," and — most importantly — Trump himself.

Trump posted his first "truth" on Tuesday night, writing "Get Ready! Your favorite president will see you soon!" The New York Post reported.

The former president's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., shared a cropped screenshot of the "truth" on Twitter. Right-wing journalist Liz Willis shared a less-cropped version, which revealed that Trump currently has 175 followers on the platform and follows no one. His "truth" had 48 likes, 27 "re-truths" (if that's the correct term), and seven replies.

The app, which also looks like Twitter, is still in an invitation-only beta. The full version is set to go live Monday, according to its Apple App Store page, but Trump Media CEO Devin Nunes told Newsmax earlier this month that the app won't launch until the end of March.

According to MSNBC, TRUTH Social also "missed its self-imposed November deadline" to release the beta.

One explanation for the delays could be a Securities and Exchange Commission investigation into the merger of TRUTH parent company Trump Media and the special purpose acquisition company Digital World Acquisition Corp.

Social networks de-platformed Trump after the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, accusing him of spreading misinformation and inciting violence. Since then, after a failed attempt at running his own blog, Trump has held out for TRUTH Social, communicating via emailed statements and declining to create accounts on alternative right-wing platforms like Parler and Gettr.