It is hard to imagine President Donald Trump coming to power without social media. His political genius has been to master the medium of our age, stoking grievances, mobilising support and provoking outrage in unrivalled ways. 

During his first term, he tweeted more than 25,000 times (averaging 18 posts a day). He has been just as finger happy on his own social media site Truth Social in his second term. One could almost say his approach is: government of social media, by social media, for social media.

Trump’s Maga movement has also found its natural home on social media, with many thousands of accounts amplifying his messages. That makes it all the more jarring to discover that some of the most active “America First” accounts are run from abroad.