Elon Musk has reinstated Donald Trump’s account on Twitter.
The move reverses a ban that kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021 as Congress was poised to certify Joe Biden’s election victory.
Former U.S. President Donald Trump has had his Twitter account reinstated
Octavio Jones
Mr Musk made the announcement in the early hours of Sunday morning (UK times) after holding a poll that asked Twitter users to click “yes” or “no” on whether Mr Trump’s account should be restored.
The “yes” vote won, with 51.8%.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk tweeted, using a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people, the voice of God”.
However, Donald Trump on Saturday said he had no interest in returning to Twitter.
"I don't see any reason for it," the former president said via video when asked whether he planned to return to Twitter by a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting.
He said he would stick with his new platform Truth Social, the app developed by his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) startup, which he said had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing "phenomenally well".
Elon Musk has reinstated Donald Trump’s account on Twitter.
Mike Blake
An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, the former president has said in the past that he would not rejoin the social media platform even if his account was reinstated.
Shortly after Mr Musk’s announcement on Twitter, the former president’s account reappeared on the social media platform.
While it still had over 1.2million followers, it was not following any other users.
Mr Trump’s last tweet was posted on January 9 2021, reading: “To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th.”
All of his former tweets also reappeared when the account was reinstated – more than 59,000 of them.
