Former president donald trump aware to Facebook and to youtube on Friday for the first time since Jan. 6, 2021, and just hours before declaring that he expected to be arrested next week on charges stemming from a Manhattan district attorney’s investigation into his 2016 campaign.
His message was brief: “I’M BACK!”
It came with a short video taken from CNN the night he was elected president more than six years ago.
“I’m sorry I kept you waiting,” Trump says in the clip. “Complicated business. Complicated.”
Trump was banned from major social media platforms after the deadly riots on Capitol Hill in 2021, when he refused to stop saying the most recent presidential election had been “stolen” from him. Trump’s access to his Twitter, Facebook and Instagram pages have been reinstated in recent months; his YouTube page was just restored this week as he continues his campaign to win back the White House in 2024.
On Saturday morning, Trump posted a lengthy message in all caps on Truth Social, the Twitter knockoff he launched last year. suggesting that he will be arrested Tuesday.
He included an alarming call to action, writing: “PROTEST, TAKE BACK OUR NATION!”
The timing of any potential indictment is unknown, and it’s not entirely clear why Trump believes he will be arrested next week, hinting only at “ILLEGAL RUNNING” from the New York County district attorney.
District Attorney Alvin Bragg’s Manhattan office allegedly pointed out earlier this month that its investigation into the former president, one of many in various jurisdictions across the country, was nearing completion. AND officials told NBC News on Friday that local, state and federal law enforcement agencies were logistically preparing for Trump’s impeachment.