Trump is now texting after avoiding messages for decades: sources

New phone, who is it?

Former President Donald Trump is now texting a select group of individuals, The Post has learned, ending his longtime aversion to leaving a paper or digital record of his communications.

Four people close to Trump, 76, told the Post they were aware of the ex-president’s foray into texting, with one saying he started texting to “a few people a few months ago”.

It’s unclear exactly what Trump writes to his contacts – after years of preferring to talk on the phone or annotate impressions with a black Sharpie.

Still, some of Trump’s closest allies told the Post they were surprised at the revelation — or had yet to join the former drug addict’s Twitter text channels.

Trump has acknowledged avoiding electronic communications, in part to limit his legal liability. As president, he used to tear up documents after reading them, forcing archive staff to tape them together. Some were reportedly flushed down the toilet.

The former president’s refusal to send text messages presented a challenge to investigators from a House select committee who tried to understand Trump’s thought process and actions as rioters stormed the Capitol on January 6, 2021.

“I never texted with him” Ivanka, Trump’s daughter told the committee during an interview, adding that she didn’t even know if her father’s White House phone had text messaging functionality.

“I’ve never heard of him using text messages,” she added.

“I don’t know of anyone who’s texted him,” said Kimberly Guilfoyle, fiancee of the former president’s eldest son, Don Jr., said to the panel.

Trump Jr. himself told the committee that his dad “doesn’t text,” which is why the young Trump reached out to then-White House chief of staff Mark Meadows, urging him to get the 45th president to “condemn this s—”. as the violence of the riots worsened.

News of Trump’s adoption of texting came the same day Meta announced he would be reinstated on Facebook and Instagram after being banned from posting on those sites for more than two years.

Trump, who is preparing to campaign for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, has told confidants he is looking forward to the expiration of a “social media exclusivity term” with Truth Social, l app founded by his company Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), so he could return to Twitter and Facebook.

In November, new Twitter boss Elon Musk lifted a ban on the former president that was put in place following the Capitol riot.