A Trump social network app readies for launch

After spending years alleging anti-conservative bias on social media, President Donald Trump will soon have another way to get his message out how he wants.

Trump’s reelection campaign plans to launch a smartphone app this fall to encourage supporters to donate, volunteer and reel in like-minded voters — all while providing the president more unfiltered access to his followers. Supporters who download the all-in-one app are expected to be able to sign up for a Make America Great Again rally, canvas a neighborhood or call voters, maybe even register to vote as the campaign looks to turn passive supporters into activists.

Perhaps the most important feature will be the app’s use of prizes — maybe VIP seats or a photo with Trump — to persuade the most fervent supporters to recruit their friends, rewarding them as campaigns have been doing for top donors for years, according to people familiar with the plans.

The upcoming launch is the latest sign of how Trump’s team, which ran a ragtag operation in 2016, is using its huge coffers to drive a more professional and data-driven operation. While campaigns have had apps for years, the Trump app is expected to let the president‘s team track followers in a more comprehensive way than ever before in its bid to secure the president another White House term.

The app could help the campaign connect with potential voters as aides focus their reelection strategy more on turning out their conservative base on Election Day and less on persuading undecided people to vote for Trump. But first the campaign will need to persuade people to download the app, an arduous task that digital experts say has doomed other apps.

“Trump supporters are more dedicated and committed,” said Rory McShane, a Republican strategist who specializes in digital media. “If there is any campaign where they have a shot at making this work, it’s the Trump campaign.”

The campaign has already acquired 200 million voter files from the Republican National Committee and is spending millions on digital ads, texts and rally attendee RSVPs to collect data on voters. The app could build on that mission, silently gathering preferences about supporters to create profiles that could be used to tailor specific messages to specific voters down to the color of an ad.

Brad Parscale, Trump’s digital guru turned campaign manager, has spoken about his goal to directly contact and target millions more supporters than the campaign did in 2016.

“This is how Donald Trump stays president for four more years,” said Parscale, holding up his iPhone onstage at a Trump rally last year. “Now this phone is how we connect with you. It’s how we turn you into the army of Trump.“

Presidential campaigns have been using apps since 2012 as they seek to reach Americans trading landlines for mobile phones. Now they’re so common that candidates in state and local races use them.