Musk reinstates Trump account
Elon Musk said Saturday on Twitter he would reinstate former President Donald Trump to the platform as part of a shake-up of the social media service, with Trump’s account quickly showing up again on the site.
Musk, who bought Twitter for $44 billion last month, had asked users on the platform starting late Friday afternoon about whether to allow Trump back onto the service. Twitter had barred Trump after the riot on Jan. 6, 2021, at the U.S. Capitol, saying his posts had the risk of inciting violence.
More than 15 million votes were logged in answer to Musk’s question about whether to reinstate Trump, according to the results that Musk included in his tweet, with nearly 52 percent in favor of the former president returning to Twitter. Trump’s Twitter account went live shortly after, though the former president’s last tweet was from Jan. 8, 2021.
“The people have spoken,” Musk said on Twitter. “Trump will be reinstated.” He added the Latin phrase “Vox Populi,
Vox Dei,” which roughly means that the voice of the people is the voice of God.
Musk and Twitter did not return requests for comment.
Trump, who did not immediately return a request for comment, had announced Tuesday he planned to seek the White House again in 2024. Whether Trump will agree to return to
Twitter is not clear. He has started his own social network, Truth Social, in which he has a financial stake.
“I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth,” Trump said during a Fox News interview.
It was also unclear if Musk would stick with his decision to allow Trump’s account back on Twitter. Since buying the company, Musk has upended it and changed course several times, slashing its onetime 7,500-person workforce, pushing to develop new products and changing his mind about what content to allow on the platform.
Musk, a longtime self-described “free speech absolutist,” had said in May he would reverse the permanent ban of Trump on Twitter and let him back on the social network. But Musk had hit pause on changing Twitter’s content rules after completing his buyout.