Trump requests meeting with Meta to discuss 'prompt reinstatement' to Facebook

The former president was banned after the Jan. 6 insurrection.

January 18, 2023, 11:53 AM

Former President Donald Trump is looking to get back on Facebook.

Attorneys for Trump, who was banned from Facebook after the Jan. 6 insurrection, have written to executives of Meta requesting a meeting to discuss "prompt reinstatement to the platform," according to a copy of the letter reviewed by ABC News.

The letter, which is addressed to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and two other executives, claims the ban on Trump's account "has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse," and represents "a deliberate effort by a private company to silence Mr. Trump's political voice."

PHOTO: President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington.
President Donald Trump walks to board Marine One on the South Lawn of the White House on Jan. 12, 2021, in Washington.
Gerald Herbert/AP, FILE

"Moreover, every day that President Trump's political voice remains silenced furthers an inappropriate interference in the American political and election process," the letter states.

The letter does not address the reason Trump was kicked off the platform in the first place -- it does, however, note that Trump was allowed back on Twitter. Twitter CEO Elon Musk lifted Trump's ban on the platform in November after putting the decision up to a poll.

He has not used the account despite being unbanned, and has said he plans to stick with TRUTH Social, the platform he founded after being banned from most social media sites.

Trump was removed from Facebook in January 2021, in the wake of the insurrection, over concerns his posts were inciting violence.

PHOTO: A mobile billboard, deployed by Accountable Tech, is seen outside Meta Headquarters on Jan. 17, 2023, in Menlo Park, Calif. Accountable Tech, an advocacy nonprofit, has deployed the billboards as Meta considers reinstating Donald Trump's Facebook.
A mobile billboard, deployed by Accountable Tech, is seen outside Meta Headquarters on Jan. 17, 2023, in Menlo Park, Calif. Accountable Tech, an advocacy nonprofit, has deployed the mobile billboards as Meta considers reinstating Donald Trump's Facebook page after a two-year suspension since the Capital insurrection. The billboards highlight Trump's recent posts on Truth Social as a reason against reinstatement.
Kimberly White/Getty Images for Accountable Tech

The company later said the removal was set to last for two years, at which point it would come under reassessment.

"We therefore write to request a meeting to discuss President Trump's prompt reinstatement to the platform," the letter says.

However, even as Trump announced his run for president in 2024, Facebook said in November it did not plan to reinstate him.

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