Trump's Twitter account briefly vanished Thursday evening
For a few moments on Thursday evening, President Trump's Twitter account – his sanctuary, safe space, and lifeline to the outside world — did not exist.
Visitors to his page were greeted not with his Thursday morning call for the death penalty, but rather the message, "Sorry, that page doesn't exist!" It wasn't the same page that appears when a Twitter user violates the terms of service and is suspended, causing the curious to wonder what was going on — was he hacked? Did he finally take Hillary Clinton's advice and delete his account? Maybe he revealed what "covfefe" means and it caused Twitter's servers to melt down?
The disappearance was fleeting — within 11 minutes of the account vanishing, it was back up. Twitter Government later announced that the account was "inadvertently deactivated due to human error by a Twitter employee," and an investigation is underway and steps are being taken to "prevent this from happening again."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
What Trump's win could mean for Big Tech
Talking Points The tech industry is bracing itself for Trump's second administration
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Europe roiled by attacks on Israeli soccer fans
Speed Read Israeli fans supporting the Maccabi Tel Aviv team clashed with pro-Palestinian protesters in 'antisemitic attacks,' Dutch authorities said
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaos
Speed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Haiti council fires prime minister, boosting chaos
Speed Read Prime Minister Garry Conille was replaced with Alix Didier Fils-Aimé
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump tells next Senate GOP leader to skip confirmations
Speed Read The president-elect said the next Senate majority leader must allow him to make recess appointments
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Fed cuts rates, chair says he won't quit if Trump asks
Speed Read Jerome Powell was noncommittal on future rate cuts that were expected before Trump won the election
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Judge revives plea deal for 9/11 suspects
Speed Read A military judge has ruled to restore the plea deals struck by 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed and two co-conspirators
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Harris concedes as world prepares for Trump's return
Speed Read Vice President Kamala Harris told supporters it was important to 'accept the results of this election'
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Abortion rights measures go 7 for 10
Speed Read Constitutional amendments to protect abortion passed in seven states but failed in three others: Florida, Nebraska and South Dakota
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Netanyahu fires defense minister, sparking protests
Speed Read Yoav Gallant and Netanyahu have clashed for years. The Israeli prime minister first tried to fire the defense minister in 2023, but backed off following a public outcry.
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Trump wins, GOP flips Senate, House a tossup
Speed Read The Republican candidate flipped back the swing states he lost to President Joe Biden in 2020
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published