Donald Trump Back on Twitter After Elon Musk's Reinstatement: 'People have Spoken'

Elon Musk on Saturday said that former President Donald Trump’s Twitter account will be reinstated after the site’s new owner ran a poll in which a narrow majority of 15 million voters supported the move.

Trump’s once-blocked Twitter account reappeared on the platform, minutes after company owner Elon Musk announced he was lifting the 22-month suspension on the former president over incitement of violence.

“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.”

Trump’s account — dormant since days after the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol by his supporters — was visible to users after Musk tweeted that “Trump will be reinstated” following a poll on the subject.

More than 15 million people voted in the poll asking whether Trump’s account should be reinstated, with a narrow majority of 51.8 percent voting in the affirmative.

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

Twitter chaos

It is not clear whether Trump would actually return to Twitter. An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, Trump has said in the past that he would not rejoin even if his account was reinstated.

Appearing via video Saturday at a gathering of the Republican Jewish Coalition in Las Vegas, 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.”

Musk, also the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has come under fire for radical changes at California-based Twitter, which he bought less than a month ago for $44 billion.

Since then, he fired half of Twitter’s 7,500 staff, scrapped a work-from-home policy and imposed long hours, all while his attempts to overhaul the company faced backlash and delays.

His stumbling attempts to revamp user verification with a controversial subscription service led to a slew of fake accounts and pranks, and prompted major advertisers to step away from the platform.

On Friday, Musk appeared to be pressing on with his plans and reinstated previously banned accounts, including that of comedian Kathy Griffin, which had been taken down after she impersonated him on the site.

The company’s offices were locked down Friday and hundreds of employees quit rather than yield to Musk’s demands that they resign themselves to working long, grueling days at the new Twitter.

(With inputs from agencies)

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