Meta announced Friday that it would remove certain restrictions that had been placed on the Facebook and Instagram accounts of former President Donald Trump.

The restrictions were placed on his social media accounts in the wake of the rioting at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 by some Trump supporters who sought to overturn the official results of the presidential election.

'These penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances.'

Meta had previously allowed Trump access to his accounts in Feb. 2023 but added restrictions that meant he faced “heightened penalties for repeat offenses." The accounts could have been “suspended for between one month and two years” if he violated their terms of service.

Those restrictions have now been removed.

"In assessing our responsibility to allow political expression, we believe that the American people should be able to hear from the nominees for president on the same basis," said Nick Clegg, the company's president of global affairs.

"In reaching this conclusion, we also considered that these penalties were a response to extreme and extraordinary circumstances, and have not had to be deployed," he added.

Trump had excoriated the social media platforms that suspended him but was able to garner attention when he joined Truth Social, a platform created by a former campaign aide. He has since posted his messages to that platform and ignored X, the platform formerly known as Twitter.

In Dec. 2022, a group of Democrats sent a letter to Meta begging them to keep the ban on Trump based on their anger over his insistence that the results of the 2020 election were fraudulent.

"Social media is rooted in the belief that open debate and the free flow of ideas are important values, especially at a time when they are under threat in many places around the world," read a statement from Meta in 2023.

"The public should be able to hear what their politicians are saying — the good, the bad and the ugly — so that they can make informed choices at the ballot box," the company added.

Democrats have tried to pin responsibility of the Jan. 6 rioting on Trump, but he has been able to escape culpability thus far. One poll found in Dec. 2021 that 60% of adults said that Trump bore some or most of the responsibility for the Capitol rioting, but only 50% said the same a year later in Jan. 2024.

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Frank Luntz says social media bans are Trump's 'own damn fault,' predicts 'with every passing month he'll become less and less relevant'

Longtime Republican pollster and political strategist Frank Luntz slammed Donald Trump on Thursday, predicting his influence would quickly fade and arguing that the former president brought on the bans from various social media platforms by his own actions.

Luntz made the remarks while speaking on the New York Times podcast, "Sway," with host Kara Swisher just minutes after Facebook's oversight board upheld the platform's decision to restrict Trump's access following the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.

During the interview, the pollster claimed that Trump, though at the moment still influential, will never be able to affect politics in the same way given his lack of access to social media platforms, such as Facebook and Twitter, and his displacement from the Oval Office.

"He'll never engage in the way he did before, because he simply doesn't have that capability," Luntz argued. "He can't hop on Air Force One. He cannot dominate the news coverage. He can get a sliver of it. And he will continue to do so. He's not going away.

"That said, it just doesn't move people the way that it used to," he continued. "And with every passing month, he'll become less and less relevant."

Later in the interview, Luntz proclaimed that "Donald Trump has no one but himself to blame" regarding his indefinite removal from social media platforms.

"His behavior, his actions, his words led to all of this," Luntz argued. "And he didn't understand that he was actually sowing the seeds of his own destruction, of his own impeachment, by making it impossible for Republicans to govern around him. And he still doesn't understand it. But it's his own damn fault for the situation that he is in."

Luntz then went even further back than the Capitol riot, all the way to the lead-up to 2020 presidential election to argue that Trump could have won back the presidency if he would've turned in a better first debate performance.

"And it's his own damn fault, just in his debate performance — in that first debate performance," he said. "Trump's behavior at that debate was disgraceful. It was an embarrassment. And that was his behavior for so much of his presidency. He has a legitimate record to defend, a legitimate record of success. But his own demeanor ended up costing Republican seats in the House and in the Senate."

Trump, who remains the most popular figure in the Republican Party, would almost certainly lead the field of 2024 presidential contenders should he choose to run again. Though as time goes on, there is at least some evidence that his popularity is gradually falling.

This week, in an effort to share his views and communicate with supporters amid the social media bans, the former president launched his own personal online message board.

Donald Trump returning to social media within 3 months on his own platform to 'redefine the game': top aide

Former President Donald Trump will return to social media in a few months, but it won't be on an existing platform. Trump will instead create "his own platform" that will "completely redefine the game," according to one of his top aides.

In Trump's final month as president, Twitter permanently banned him for tweets that were deemed as "incitement of violence" in relation to the Jan. 6 storming of the U.S. Capitol building by Trump supporters. Trump was then suspended from Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitch, and Shopify.

Trump has been relatively quiet since he was banished from the largest social media platforms. What few communications Trump has delivered since Jan. 20 have been statements released through his "Office of the Former President" in Palm Beach County, Florida.

Jason Miller, a former spokesman and senior adviser for Trump's campaign, teased how and when the 45th president would return to social media. Speaking to Fox News' "Media Buzz," Miller proclaimed that Trump will return to social media on his own platform.

"I do think we're going to see President Trump returning to social media in probably about two or three months here with his own platform," Miller teased. "This is something that I think will be the hottest ticket in social media."

"It's going to completely redefine the game, and everybody is going to be waiting and watching to see what exactly President Trump does, but it will be his own platform," Miller told host Howard Kurtz.

Miller did not provide specifics as to the new social media platform or even the name of the project, but he said that Trump has been holding "a lot of high-powered meetings" at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. Miller added that "numerous companies" have approached Trump regarding the potential venture.

"This new platform is going to be big," Miller proclaimed. "Everyone wants him and he's going to bring millions and millions — tens of millions — to this platform."

Based on social media comments, the early favorite for the name of Trump's social media platform is "Trumpet."

BREAKING: Trump Senior Adviser @JasonMillerinDC says President Trump will likely return to social media in 2-3 mont… https://t.co/6YY3TCgimf
— Benny (@Benny)1616346393.0

Miller then pivoted to a new endorsement that Trump will make on Monday.

"Pay attention to Georgia tomorrow, on Monday," Miller said. "There's a big endorsement that's coming that's going to really shake things up in the political landscape in Georgia. It's big, it's coming tomorrow, and just be sure to tune in."

Two weeks ago, Trump urged former football great turned political commentator Herschel Walker to run for the U.S. Senate against Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock (Ga.).

"Wouldn't it be fantastic if the legendary Herschel Walker ran for the United States Senate in Georgia?" Trump said in a statement issued by his super PAC. "He would be unstoppable, just like he was when he played for the Georgia Bulldogs, and in the NFL. He is also a GREAT person. Run Herschel, run!"

Earlier this month, Trump publicly voiced his support for South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster (R) and Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo (R), who are both running for re-election. Trump also endorsed Arkansas Lieutenant Governor Tim Griffin (R), who is running to be the state's attorney general.

Michelle Obama calls on tech companies to stop enabling Trump's 'monstrous behavior' and ban him permanently

Former first lady Michelle Obama scolded tech companies for "enabling" President Donald Trump's "monstrous behavior" and called for them to permanently ban the president.

Obama denounced the rioting at the U.S. Capitol in her statement that was released on Thursday, and then addressed Silicon Valley.

"I hurt for our country. And I wish I had all the solutions to make things better. I wish I had the confidence that people who know better will act like it for more than a news cycle or two," wrote Obama.

"All I know is that now is a time for true patriotism. Now is the time for those who voted for this president to see the reality of what they've supported-and publicly and forcefully rebuke him and the actions of that mob," she continued.

"Now is the time for Silicon Valley companies to stop enabling this monstrous behavior — and go even further than they have already by permanently banning this man from their platforms and putting in place policies to prevent their technology from being used by the nation's leaders to fuel insurrection."

Obama was referring to actions already taken by some social media companies to limit the president's ability to post his claims about the 2020 election.

On Wednesday Twitter announced that they were suspending the president from his account for 12 hours over several tweets about the election. Soon after, Facebook followed suit and suspended Trump from his account for 24 hours. YouTube also took down a video the president posted where he told protesters and rioters to go home, but added his claims about the election.

Twitter said they would consider a permanent ban of the president and on Thursday Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the president would be locked out of his account for at least the duration of the transition period.

Obama also described her reaction to the rioting at the U.S. Capitol in her statement.

"Like all of you, I watched as a gang - organized, violent, and mad they'd lost an election - laid seige to the United States Capitol. They set up gallows. They proudly waved the traitorous flag of the Confederacy through the halls. They desecrated the center of American government," she wrote.

"The day was a fulfillment of the wishes of an infantile and unpatriotic president who can't handle the truth of his own failures. And the wreckage lays at the feet of a party and media apparatus that gleefully cheered him on, knowing full well the possibility of consequences like these," Obama added.

On Thursday the president condemned the rioting in a statement from White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany to the media.

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What are the details?

Here's the full interview with Trump:

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