Trump's tweets will not be brought back to Twitter by the National Archives

When Donald Trump was removed from social media networks like Facebook and Twitter, the only real surprise was that it hadn't happened sooner. With the former president apparently planning to create his own social platforms, the story is far from over, and he sems likely to maintain an online presence.

But there is also the question about what to do with Trump's previous online content. One thing is certain – his tweets will not be appearing in the National Archives after Twitter denied NARA permission to resurrect deleted content from the suspended account.

It would normally be expected that the National Archives and Records Administration would make the content posted by a former president available for all to see in the name of history. However, despite maintaining archives of the personal and governmental accounts of many members of the Trump administration, his permanent suspension from @realDonaldTrump means that his tweets are no longer available to anyone via Twitter.

Although some of Trump tweets have been recorded for posterity by ProPublica's Politwoops project, Twitter has confirmed that it is denying the NARA access to his output.

In a statement issued to POLITICO, Twitter spokesperson Trenton Kennedy explains:

Given that we permanently suspended @realDonaldTrump, the content from the account will not appear on Twitter as it did previously or as archived administration accounts do currently, regardless of how NARA decides to display the data it has preserved. Administration accounts that are archived on the service are accounts that were not in violation of the Twitter Rules.

But that is not to say that Trump tweet will not be made available. ProPublica is not the only online database to have maintained a record of Trumpian output. NARA spokesperson James Pritchett says that work is being done to piece together some form of official record:

Twitter is solely responsible for the decision of what content is available on their platform. NARA works closely with Twitter and other social media platforms to maintain archived social accounts from each presidential administration, but ultimately the platform owners can decline to host these accounts. NARA preserves platform independent copies of social media records and is working to make that content available to the public.

He added: "NARA intends to provide public access to all captured and preserved Presidential Record social media, including any blocked or deleted Tweets that have been transferred to us".

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