Elon Musk officially reinstates Donald Trump's Twitter - but former president wants no part of it

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By stefan armitage

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Donald Trump is officially back on Twitter... technically.

It has been nearly two years after the former President of the United States was booted from the platform - just two days after the infamous January 6 Capitol Riots.

At the time, officials from the social media company announced in a statement that the former POTUS had been "permanently suspended" from Twitter "due to the risk of further incitement of violence".

The statement added:

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. 

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."

However, there was hope for the now-76-year-old after the social media giant was acquired last month by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a $44 billion deal.

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Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

Following Musk's repeated touts for "free speech", many of Trump's biggest supporters believed this could mean the ex-president's ban would be lifted.

Then, on Saturday (November 19), over 15 million people voted on a Twitter poll created by Musk, in which he asked the simple question: "Reinstate former President Trump" - with the two answer options being "Yes" or "No".

When the poll was closed, 15,085,458 votes votes have been registered - with 51.8% of people said "Yes" and 48.2% of voters said "No".

Clearly excited by the popularity of the poll, 51-year-old Musk would later describe it as "fascinating", and even tweeted: "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" - a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God".

"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk then tweeted.

And so, overnight, Donald Trump's @RealDonaldTrump account has been reinstated and is once again active - meaning Trump once again has access to his 25 million followers (he did have 88 million followers before the suspension).

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Credit: Twitter

However, according to a report by Reuters, Trump has effectively snubbed the suspension being lifted.

Speaking to a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting earlier on Saturday, Trump was asked about whether or not he planned to return to the platform, to which he said: "I don't see any reason for it."

Instead, Trump is pursuing with his own social media platform, Truth Social - which he claimed is receiving a higher user engagement than Twitter and was performing "phenomenally well".

This comes after Trump officially announced his intention to once again run for president in 2024.

Of course, this may not come as a surprise to many.

Back in April, Trump was taking part in an interview with Fox News following Musk's initial announcement to purchase Twitter.

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Credit: Simon Serdar / Alamy

During that interview, the former president said: "I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," he told Fox News, adding: "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."

Although he was once extremely active on the platform, Trump was adamant, saying: "The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter."

Meanwhile, he maintained that TRUTH Social will not be in direct competition with Musk's Twitter, saying: "I don’t view that as a competition for what I am doing."

"This is a platform for my voice. TRUTH is a platform for my voice and for my supporters," he added.

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy

Elon Musk officially reinstates Donald Trump's Twitter - but former president wants no part of it

vt-author-image

By stefan armitage

Article saved!Article saved!

Donald Trump is officially back on Twitter... technically.

It has been nearly two years after the former President of the United States was booted from the platform - just two days after the infamous January 6 Capitol Riots.

At the time, officials from the social media company announced in a statement that the former POTUS had been "permanently suspended" from Twitter "due to the risk of further incitement of violence".

The statement added:

"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them — specifically how they are being received and interpreted on and off Twitter — we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence. 

"In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."

However, there was hope for the now-76-year-old after the social media giant was acquired last month by Tesla CEO Elon Musk in a $44 billion deal.

size-large wp-image-1263164705
Credit: Sipa US / Alamy

Following Musk's repeated touts for "free speech", many of Trump's biggest supporters believed this could mean the ex-president's ban would be lifted.

Then, on Saturday (November 19), over 15 million people voted on a Twitter poll created by Musk, in which he asked the simple question: "Reinstate former President Trump" - with the two answer options being "Yes" or "No".

When the poll was closed, 15,085,458 votes votes have been registered - with 51.8% of people said "Yes" and 48.2% of voters said "No".

Clearly excited by the popularity of the poll, 51-year-old Musk would later describe it as "fascinating", and even tweeted: "Vox Populi, Vox Dei" - a Latin phrase meaning "the voice of the people is the voice of God".

"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk then tweeted.

And so, overnight, Donald Trump's @RealDonaldTrump account has been reinstated and is once again active - meaning Trump once again has access to his 25 million followers (he did have 88 million followers before the suspension).

size-large wp-image-1263179013
Credit: Twitter

However, according to a report by Reuters, Trump has effectively snubbed the suspension being lifted.

Speaking to a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting earlier on Saturday, Trump was asked about whether or not he planned to return to the platform, to which he said: "I don't see any reason for it."

Instead, Trump is pursuing with his own social media platform, Truth Social - which he claimed is receiving a higher user engagement than Twitter and was performing "phenomenally well".

This comes after Trump officially announced his intention to once again run for president in 2024.

Of course, this may not come as a surprise to many.

Back in April, Trump was taking part in an interview with Fox News following Musk's initial announcement to purchase Twitter.

size-large wp-image-1263178573
Credit: Simon Serdar / Alamy

During that interview, the former president said: "I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," he told Fox News, adding: "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."

Although he was once extremely active on the platform, Trump was adamant, saying: "The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter."

Meanwhile, he maintained that TRUTH Social will not be in direct competition with Musk's Twitter, saying: "I don’t view that as a competition for what I am doing."

"This is a platform for my voice. TRUTH is a platform for my voice and for my supporters," he added.

Featured image credit: ZUMA Press, Inc. / Alamy