Tweeter-in-Chief: Trump to Maintain Personal Handle After Inauguration

President-elect Donald Trump will maintain his personal Twitter account and other social media after his inauguration on Friday, transition officials told NBC News.

The move comes amid uncertainty over how Trump’s administration will use White House-certified handles, including @POTUS and @FLOTUS.

Also unclear is how Trump’s presidential communications will be saved, as required by law.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSPhone a friend: Republicans lean on Cabinet members as they break with Trump

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

Slide 1 of 1

Related: President-Elect Trump Defends Use of Twitter Amidst Democrat Attacks

Barack Obama has maintained two Twitter accounts during his presidency, one official, the other personal.

The president-elect’s advisers told NBC News that Trump wants to continue building his base of roughly 20 million followers, which exceeds Obama’s official Twitter account, with its 13.5 million. (Obama’s personal account has 80.5 million.)

In an interview with the Times of London published Sunday, Trump attributed his Twitter habits to the media, asserting that he had been covered unfairly.

Pointing out that he had 46 million followers across different social media accounts, Trump told the newspaper: “I'd rather just let that build up and just keep it @therealdonaldtrump. And the tweeting, I thought I would do less of it but I am covered so dishonestly by the press, so dishonestly.”

Trump used his Twitter account to unprecedented effect during the campaign and after the election, often dominating news cycles with all manner of claims and commentary on everything from Ted Cruz’s wife to Saturday Night Live and Rep. John Lewis’ assertion that he is an illegitimate president.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSPhone a friend: Republicans lean on Cabinet members as they break with Trump

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCentrist think tank warns 2028 Democrats against swinging too far left on immigration

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRussia’s secrecy after a mysterious plague lab death raises global alarm

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAfter surviving a botched lethal injection, Christa Pike faces unprecedented legal battle

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHunger in a land of plenty: Major food banks face ‘heartbreaking’ need, NBC News survey finds

FOR SUBSCRIBERSInflation and tariffs push U.S. holiday spending projections to a record $1.7 trillion

FOR SUBSCRIBERSWhat happened inside the room where officials tried to execute Christa Pike by lethal injection

FOR SUBSCRIBERSHow we reported the saga of the CIA officer and his gold-bar stash

FOR SUBSCRIBERSBrad Raffensperger gears up to oversee his final election in Georgia

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDiddy is punished following NBC News report on his VIP life in prison and contraband cellphone use

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘Too young to vote, old enough to be tear gassed’: French protesters’ anger swells

FOR SUBSCRIBERSDOJ gets aggressive in suing states that challenge Trump’s immigration policies

FOR SUBSCRIBERSJustice Department seeks criminal charge for former Trump aide Cassidy Hutchinson

FOR SUBSCRIBERS‘I just want to hold him’: USS Lincoln sailor to meet his 10-month-old son as ship docks

FOR SUBSCRIBERSSenate candidates run on raising Social Security taxes for higher incomes to prevent benefit cuts

Slide 1 of 1

Trump also retweeted what appeared to be anti-Semitic imagery and an account associated with an apparent neo-Nazi.

In his interview with the Times, Trump boasted of his media strategy.

"I can go bing bing bing and I just keep going and they put it on and as soon as I tweet it out," he said.