Don wins a vote! But isn’t accepting

Donald Trump’s notorious Twitter account has been reinstated after the platform’s new owner Elon Musk ran a poll in which a narrow majority of voters supported the move, days after the former US president announced another White House bid.

Trump’s account was banned from the platform early last year for his role in the January 6 attack on the US Capitol by a mob of his supporters seeking to overturn the results of the 2020 election.

“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk tweeted, shortly after the 24-hour Twitter poll on his account ended.

“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” he added, repeating a Latin adage he also posted Friday, meaning “The voice of the people is the voice of God.” Ultimately, more than 15 million people -- out of 237 million daily Twitter users -voted on whether to reinstate the controversial profile, with 51.8 per cent in favour and 48.2 per cent against.

Trump, who had more than 88 million users when his accounted was suspended, revelled in using Twitter as a mouthpiece during his presidency, posting policy announcements, attacking political rivals and communicating with supporters.

Trump (pictured) has said he will not return to the platform but would instead remain on his own network, Truth Social, launched after he was banned from Twitter.

Trump said he welcomed Musk’s poll, and was a fan of the man himself, but appeared to reject any return.

“I do like him... you know, he’s a character and again, I like characters,” he said.

“He did put up a poll and it was very overwhelming... but I have something called... Truth Social.”

As to whether he would return to the platform, he said: “I don’t see it because I don’t see any reason for it.”

On Saturday, several of his political allies were highlighting his return. “Welcome back, @realdonaldtrump!” tweeted House Republican Paul Gosar.