🎙️ Voice is AI-generated. Inconsistencies may occur.
Elon Musk finalized his acquisition of Twitter on Thursday, with the news immediately giving rise to talk of former President Donald Trump's possible reinstatement on the social media platform.
Trump was permanently suspended from Twitter two days after the January 6, 2021, riot on the U.S. Capitol building. The former president was known as a prodigious Twitter user, often firing off multiple tweets in a single day prior to his ban. After he was removed from Twitter—along with being suspended from Facebook and YouTube—Trump first took to regularly posting messages for his followers on his personal website before he founded his own social media company, Truth Social, in early 2022.
As of press time, Musk has not indicated if he will allow Trump back on Twitter since the completion of his $44 billion ownership deal. However, the Tesla CEO has spoken out against Twitter's original ban of Trump in the past. Trump, meanwhile, has also addressed the prospect of returning to Twitter should the ban be rescinded.
Musk first struck a deal to buy Twitter in April, but later tried to back out of the proposal and alleged the company had underreported the amount of fake accounts and bots on the platform. Twitter denied his claims and sued in an attempt to compel Musk to complete the deal. He counter-sued before returning to his original $44 billion proposal in early October. A Delaware Chancery Court judge gave Musk until October 28 to finalize the acquisition.
Following the original April announcement, though, Musk did address Trump's ban. After first making general statements about his desire to make Twitter more open to differing viewpoints and free speech being the "the bedrock of a functioning democracy," he singled out Trump during a conference hosted by the Financial Times in May.
"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump; I think that was a mistake," Musk said at the conference. "Banning Trump from Twitter didn't end Trump's voice. It will amplify it among the right and this is why it's morally wrong and flat-out stupid."
In an open letter to advertisers on Thursday, Musk indicated that there would at least be some limits to what people say on Twitter, saying he didn't want the platform to turn into a "free-for-all hellscape."
"The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence," Musk wrote. "There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society."
Trump himself first commented about a possible Twitter return in April during an interview with Fox News. At the time, he said he would rather remain on his own social media platform.
"I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth," the former president said. "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth."
The former president added, "The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter."
After those statements, the two then exchanged insults over the summer. In July, Trump called Musk a "bull**** artist" when talking about the Twitter deal during a public appearance in Alaska.
"I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset," Musk tweeted in response.
I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 12, 2022
Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency.
Trump has addressed Musk's finalized purchase of Twitter, and had kinder words for the Tesla CEO this time around. However, he also reiterated his commitment to Truth Social.
"I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country. Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly," Trump wrote in a Friday post on Truth Social. "It will be much smaller, but better. I LOVE TRUTH!"
Newsweek reached out to Musk and Trump for comment.
About the writer
Jon Jackson is a News Editor at Newsweek based in New York. His focus is on reporting on the Ukraine ... Read more