Donald Trump's new social media platform is facing some legal issues almost immediately, coming from a rather unexpected source—a solar power company based in the U.K.
Trump's new app, Truth Social, went live on the Apple Store on Monday, February 21, to coincide with President's Day, five months after it was first announced.
The app (created by the Trump Media and Technology Group, TMTG) is right-wing "free speech" originated social media app similar to Gettr, Parler or Gab, and was set up by Trump after he was banned from all other mainstream social media sites in the wake of the January 6 attack.
However, upon its launch in the Apple app store, other social media users noticed that Truth Social's logo—a purple square with a white "T" and a turquoise square in the bottom right—is almost identical to that of a British green energy company, Trailar.
The Truth Social logo even has the left side of the "T" cut off in the exact same way as Trailar's, a company which fits solar mats on top of commercial vehicles across the globe, in order to save on fuel, CO2 emissions and maintenance costs.
In a statement to Newsweek, Trailer confirmed that it is now "seeking legal advice" to determine the best course of action after being made aware of the similarities between Truth Social's logo, and its own logo.
"Based on recent news brought to our attention by various media outlets, showcasing the similarities between our own Trailar logo and the Truth Social logo, we are now seeking legal advice to understand next steps and options available to protect our brand," said Matthew Summers, head of marketing, Trailar.
"Trailar has no affiliation or connection with the Truth Social network site, with our business firmly focused on decarbonising global transport through the use of solar and data driven technologies."
In a tweet, the company added: "Great to see Donald Trump supporting a growing sustainability business! Maybe ask next time?
Great to see Donald Trump supporting a growing sustainability business! Maybe ask next time? @AldiUK Don't happen to have the number for your legal team on you? 😉@DonaldJTrumpJr @IvankaTrump @MELANIATRUMP #DonaldTrump https://t.co/TilUP5Tz6H
— TRAILAR (@solartrailar) February 21, 2022
The logo is not the only issue which has affected Truth Social on its launch day.
While a number of prominent right-wing figures have been urging people to following them on their new accounts, tens of thousands of people have been placed in queues while trying to register their profiles, whereas others are seeing frequent error messages.
As of Monday morning, it was reported that more than 170,000 people were currently on the waiting list to register a new account with Truth Social.
The app is currently not available on Android and there is no corresponding website for users to access.
Former Congressman Devin Nunes, a California Republican who resigned to become chief executive officer of TMTG in January, previously said he expect it to be fully rolled out by the end of March.
