From reality TV to campaign rallies to Twitter, it's no secret that President Trump enjoys the limelight.
However, rumors on social media that the "Presidential Alert" message and tone came into existence because of President Trump are simply not true, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).
The Presidential Alert was created long before President Trump lived in the White House—although this is the first time anyone we talked to remembers hearing that actual term and seeing this specific title in an alert message on mobile phones:
FEMA explains the history of the Presidential Alert message, which is really part of the EAS (Emergency Alert System) and the WEA (Wireless Emergency Alerts System):
"The EAS is based upon the War Powers Act provision of the Communications Act of 1934, which provides for Presidential access to commercial communications during “a state of public peril or disaster or other national emergency.”
"For WEA, the Warning, Alert, and Response Network (WARN) Act of 2006 provides that subscribers may opt out of receiving any wireless alerts “other than an alert issued by the President,” and that wireless alerting service should allow wireless subscribers the capability of opting out of receiving WEA alerts, other than an alert issued at the direction of the President and/or his/her designee."
So now you know the history of the Presidential alert and that there is no "opting out" of these messages now or in the future.
