President Donald Trump met with Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey on Tuesday, hours after Trump erroneously accused the social media company of “discriminatory” behavior toward conservative users.
The meeting included a discussion about the size of Trump’s Twitter following, a person with knowledge of the conversation told CNN Business. That news was first reported by The Washington Post.
Earlier in the day, Trump had tweeted a complaint that Twitter is “very discriminatory” and does not “treat me well as a Republican.” The President said it was “hard for people to sign on” and accused the company of “constantly taking people off list.”
After the meeting, Trump tweeted a photo and wrote, “Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general.”
“Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!” Trump added.
In a statement, a Twitter spokesperson said, “Jack had a constructive meeting with the President of the United States today at the president’s invitation. They discussed Twitter’s commitment to protecting the health of the public conversation ahead of the 2020 U.S. elections and efforts underway to respond to the opioid crisis.”
Among others in the room, Trump was accompanied by Dan Scavino, the White House director of social media and a longtime Trump aide who frequently posts for him on Twitter. Dorsey was accompanied by Vijaya Gadde, Twitter’s head of legal, policy, and trust & safety.
For years prominent Republicans and right-wing media personalities have repeatedly made unfounded accusations that Twitter and other social media platforms are biased against conservative users.
Trump has amped up such accusations since he took office. In his Tuesday morning tweets, he said the federal government should step in.
“No wonder Congress wants to get involved - and they should,” Trump added in a tweet. “Must be more, and fairer, companies to get out the WORD!”
Trump’s meeting with Dorsey also came a month after Gadde told The Washington Post that Twitter was considering labeling tweets which violate its rules, but which the company permits to remain online because they are deemed to be in the public interest.
Such a move could potentially impact Trump, as some critics have suggested his tweets have violated the platform’s terms of service.
– CNN’s Jeremy Diamond contributed reporting.
