Donald Trump said on Saturday he was not interested in returning to Twitter, even as a slim majority voted to reinstate the former US president, who was banned from the social network for inciting violence, in a poll organized by new owner Elon Musk.
Just over 15 million Twitter users voted in the poll, with 51.8% voting for the renewal.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be restored,” Musk tweeted.
Trump’s Twitter account, which had more than 88 million followers before it was banned on January 8, 2021, began gaining followers and had nearly 100,000 followers by 10:00 p.m. ET Saturday. Some users initially reported that they were unable to follow the restored account on Saturday night.
Earlier in the day, Trump appeared less interested.
“I don’t see any reason for that,” the former president said via video when asked if he planned to return to Twitter at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting.
He said he would stick with his new platform, Truth Social, an app developed by his startup Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG), which he said has more user engagement than Twitter and is doing “phenomenally well.”
Twitter did not respond to a request for comment.
Trump, who on Tuesday made a bid to win back the White House in 2024, praised Musk and said he had always liked him. But Trump also said Twitter was plagued by bots, fake accounts and that the problems it faced were “unbelievable.”
In May, Musk first said he planned to lift Trump’s ban, and many Twitter advertisers have been closely monitoring the timing of Trump’s return.
The billionaire has since sought to reassure users and advertisers that the decision will be made with a content moderation board made up of people with “hugely diverse viewpoints” in mind, and no account reinstatement will take place until the board is convened.
He also said that Twitter will not reinstate banned users until there is a “clear process for doing so.”
But this week, Musk reinstated comedian Kathy Griffin, who was banned for changing her profile name to “Elon Musk” in violation of his new rule against impersonation without indicating it was a parody. There was no new information about the process or the moderation board.
NO REASON TO RETURN
Trump’s absence could ease the concerns of big advertisers, who are already excited by Musk’s dramatic overhaul of Twitter.
He cut his staff in half and severely cut the company’s trust and security team, which is responsible for preventing the spread of misinformation and harmful content.
Those actions and Musk’s tweets prompted major companies to stop advertising on the site as they monitor how the platform handles hate speech.
Bloomberg reported on Saturday, citing unnamed sources, that Twitter may lay off more employees in sales and partnerships, just days after a mass layoff of engineers.
If Trump were to return to Twitter, the move would raise questions about his commitment to Truth Social, which launched on Apple’s App Store in February and Google’s Play Store in October. Trump has about 4.57 million followers on Truth Social.
Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting regularly on the app in May. He has used Truth Social to promote his allies, criticize opponents and defend his reputation amid legal scrutiny from state, congressional and federal investigators.
However, his deal with the company opens up the opportunity for Trump to engage extensively on other platforms. Trump is required to give Truth Social a six-hour exclusive on any post, but is free to post “political messages, political fundraising or exit efforts” on any site at any time, according to a May SEC filing. .
