White House calls Truth Social world's top platform, data disagrees
What's the story
The White House has declared Truth Social, the social media platform owned by Donald Trump, as the "most powerful and popular social media platform in the world." The statement was made by White House spokesperson Davis Ingle to The New York Times. However, this claim contradicts user statistics from some of the world's largest social media platforms.
User data
Truth Social not in top 10 platforms
According to data from Search Engine Land, YouTube leads the pack with 2.65 billion monthly active users, followed by Facebook (2.39 billion), TikTok (2.21 billion), and Instagram (1.99 billion).
Notably, Truth Social doesn't even feature in the top 10 list of popular platforms.
Even Elon Musk's X and Meta's Threads lag behind Pinterest in terms of global users at 450 million and 223 million, respectively.
User engagement
Truth Social's traffic on decline
Truth Social's traffic seems to be on a downward trend. The NYT reports data from Similarweb showing a 36% drop in monthly visits to Truth Social in July compared to the same period last year.
From January-July 2025, an average of 28 million people visited the platform each month, which dropped to 25 million during the first seven months of 2026.
Last month, Truth Social introduced its $100,000/month subscription for early access to posts from Trump and other prominent users.
Content strategy
Trump's unique posts and direct communication
The NYT report also highlights Trump's unique posting patterns on Truth Social, often featuring AI-generated images.
These include one of his head on Hulk Hogan's body and another hitting a cut-out of Iran with a hammer brandishing the American flag.
Ingle emphasized President Trump's "authentic voice" as the reason for the platform's so-called popularity, saying it's where he communicates directly with the American people and the world without the biased media taking him out of context.