Musk has previously said he disagrees with the ban and intends to reinstate Trump. But after his $44 billion acquisition of Twitter late last month, he also promised to set up a content review board to make such decisions — saying it could take weeks.
Trump had more than 88 million followers before he was suspended from Twitter after Jan. 1. Feb. 6, 2021, citing fears of incitement to violence in the days after his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol and sparked riots, killing five and injuring hundreds.
On Saturday, an account with Trump’s account resurfaced on the site and is slowly regaining followers. A former Twitter employee familiar with the process, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation, said it could take up to a full day for a banned account to return to its previous state.
Musk’s move reversed one of the most important decisions in Twitter’s history. Musk, a self-described “free speech absolutist,” has said the permanent ban undermines Twitter’s role as a haven for unfettered free speech.
second He tweeted later in the day the $44 billion acquisition closedMusk promised not to make Twitter “a hell of dogfights,” saying he bought the platform “because it’s important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square where beliefs can be debated in a healthy way.” way, without resorting to violence.”
It’s unclear, though, whether the former president will take up his offer. Trump addressed Musk’s polling and his account themes in a video link address Saturday at the Republican Jewish Coalition conference in Las Vegas.
He’s lukewarm at the prospect of rejoining Twitter, repeating earlier remarks that he’d rather focus on his clone site, Truth Social.
“I don’t see any reason to do that,” Trump said of his return to Twitter, alluding to the social media network’s reported bot problems and declining engagement. “Truth Social has taken over a lot of people, and I don’t think they’re going to come back to Twitter.”
While Trump took the opportunity to promote his website, he said he appreciated the polls and welcomed Musk’s purchase.
“I love that he bought it, I’ve always loved him,” Trump said. “He’s a character, but I’m more of a character.”