President Donald Trump, a frequent tweeter himself, met with Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in the Oval Office on Tuesday, CNN reported. Trump has repeatedly accused the social media platform of bias against his supporters.
What happened?
Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006 and has been CEO between 2006 and 2008, and since 2015.
After the meeting, Trump tweeted, "Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding their platform, and the world of social media in general. Look forward to keeping an open dialogue!"
Great meeting this afternoon at the @WhiteHouse with @Jack from @Twitter. Lots of subjects discussed regarding thei… https://t.co/Sw2ZwrclUT— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1556052896.0
Dorsey responded to Trump's tweet, thanking him for the discussion and saying, "Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversation, and we intend to make it healthier and more civil."
@realDonaldTrump @WhiteHouse @Twitter Thank you for the time. Twitter is here to serve the entire public conversati… https://t.co/kd1nUdbuob— jack (@jack) 1556060674.0
In a statement to CNN, a spokesperson for Twitter 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."
What else?
Earlier Tuesday, Trump had accused Twitter of "playing political games," saying "they don't treat me well as a Republican." He also said it was "hard for people to sign on" and that Twitter was "[c]onstantly taking people off list," which seemed to refer to his followers being deleted.
The Washington Post claimed, via an anonymous source who said the meeting was "cordial," that Dorsey told Trump that his lost followers were part of the company's crackdown on spam and bot accounts.
“The best thing ever to happen to Twitter is Donald Trump.” @MariaBartiromo So true, but they don’t treat me well… https://t.co/5jwDvocFqG— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1556018800.0
.....But should be much higher than that if Twitter wasn’t playing their political games. No wonder Congress wants… https://t.co/e1I3vgV1Ug— Donald J. Trump (@Donald J. Trump) 1556019139.0
Trump has raised these same accusations against Twitter in the past, including in October when he said that they had "stifled growth" and in July 2016 when he accused the company of "'SHADOW BANNING' prominent Republicans." In November, he accused Twitter, as well as Facebook and Google, of "Collusion" in "favor of the Democrats."