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Brazilian prince and Bolsonaro ally inked to Donald Trump’s social media site


A self-described Brazilian prince who favors a return to an unelected head of state is to play a key role in former President Donald Trump‘s newly announced social media site known as TRUTH Social.

Luiz Philippe of Orléans-Braganza is a member of Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies – the lower house of the country’s national parliament – and a member of President Jair Bolsonaro’s political party.

Orléans-Braganza is the chief financial officer of Digital World Acquisition Corp., which announced on Wednesday that it will be merging with Trump Media & Technology Group.

That deal means the Brazilian lawmaker may be a central figure as Trump launches TRUTH Social.

The platform, which is being billed as a Trump-approved alternative to sites like Facebook and Twitter, will be rolled out in beta in November before becoming generally available in the first quarter of 2022.

But Orléans-Braganza is not merely a lawmaker and ally of the Brazilian president – he is also a descendant of the last Emperor of Brazil, Dom Pedro II, who was overthrown in 1889.

Orléans-Braganza calls himself a prince and is often referred to in the Brazilian press as “O Príncipe” – Portuguese for “the prince”, according to The Financial Times. However, his father, who was a prince, relinquished his royal rights.

He is related to some of the former royal houses of Europe including the French Houses of Orléans and Bourbon, the Portuguese House of Braganza and the German House of Wittelsbach.

Orléans-Braganza was elected to Brazil’s Chamber of Deputies in 2018 and was inaugurated into his new role in 2019, during which he wore the Imperial Order of Christ that once belonged to Dom Pedro II.

He has supported the idea of creating an unelected head of state for Brazil who would be able to veto decisions made by the country’s legislature. He is a member of Bolsonaro’s Social Liberal Party (PSL).

Bolsonaro has been compared to Trump as both a form of criticism and flattery and now it appears one of his allies will be tied to Trump through a corporate merger.

Trading in shares of Digital World Acquisition Corp. was halted at least 12 times on Friday morning amid a sharp increase in the share price following the announcement of a merger with Trump Media & Technology Group.

In a statement about the new social media site, Trump said he had created TRUTH Social “to stand up to the tyranny of Big Tech.”

“We live in a world where the Taliban has a huge presence on Twitter, yet your favorite American president has been silenced. This is unacceptable,” Trump said.

Trump Prepares to Speak at CPACFormer U.S. President Donald Trump prepares to speak during the Conservative Political Action Conference CPAC held at the Hilton Anatole on July 11, 2021 in Dallas, Texas. Trump’s new social media site is linked to the descendant of the last emperor of Brazil. Brandon Bell/Getty Images

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