Kayleigh McEnany said Trump finds it 'kind of freeing' to be off Twitter since he was banned

• When Donald Trump got banned from Twitter, he went "ballistic," according to a Politico report.
• But now, two months later, he finds it "kind of freeing," former press aide Kayleigh McEnany said.
• At the time of his ban in January, Trump tried tweeting from other White House–affiliated accounts and threatened to establish his own social media platform.

Ex-White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany on Friday said former President Donald Trump is "doing just fine" without Twitter, a stark contrast to his behavior after initially learning he was banned.

Trump was banned from Twitter in January because of his potential to incite further violence following the deadly siege on the US Capitol, the platform said.

At the time, the former president was infuriated by the move. A senior administration official told Politico that Trump went "ballistic."

Trump even tried to tweet from different avenues.

Shortly after Twitter removed his @realDonaldTrump account, the president tweeted from the official @POTUS and @TeamTrump handles. But Twitter immediately deleted those posts as well.

One of his now-deleted tweets said the former president had begun "negotiating with various other sites" and hinted at a big announcement. His team would "look at the possibilities of building our own platform in the near future," he said.

His frustration spread to other Republicans, who attempted to start a movement to get people off Twitter.

Immediately following his permanent suspension, many high-level and prominent Republicans expressed solidarity with the former president, urging their followers to flock elsewhere. They began sharing their Parler accounts on Twitter.

Parler is a social media app used prominently by Republican and conservative figures, who've dubbed it the "free speech" platform.

Despite all the commotion, Trump finds it liberating to be off Twitter these days, said McEnany, now a contributor for Fox News.

"He said it was kind of freeing not to have Twitter," she said. "He had a lot of time on his hands. So I think he's doing just fine without social media."

Twitter banned Trump after insurrectionists stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, leading to five people dead. His tweets, the platform said, violated Twitter policies of civic integrity.

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," the company said in a tweet.

Leading up to the days of the riot, Trump frequently used his Twitter account to espouse and spread false information about the 2020 elections to millions of his followers.