The former US president says his own platform is doing “phenomenally well”
Former US President Donald Trump doesn’t “see any reason” to return to Twitter even after CEO Elon Musk reinstated his account, he said on Saturday. Trump already has millions of followers on his own network, Truth Social.
The remarks came during the Republican Jewish Coalition’s leadership meeting via livestream video. Twitter has “a lot of problems,” the ex-president noted, observing that “it may make it, it may not make it.”
However, Trump said he liked that Musk had bought the company. “He’s a character and I tend to like characters. But he’s smart.”
He insisted that his new platform, Truth Social, is doing “phenomenally well,” and has previously vowed to remain on the site, where he has nearly 5 million followers, although that is much below the 86 million he had on Twitter. The shareholders of the company that seeks to take Truth Social public are set to vote next week on the potential $1.3 billion IPO.
Musk brought @realDonaldTrump back from the digital dead on Saturday after 51.8% of his followers responded favorably to a poll asking if the former president should be reinstated. “The people have spoken,” the Tesla tycoon tweeted, adding a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
The billionaire revealed last week that Twitter’s new content policy would be “freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,” explaining that “negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out.”
While Trump is contractually obligated to give Truth Social a six-hour exclusive on his social media messages, he is allowed to post “political messaging, political fundraising, or get-out-the-vote efforts” anywhere and anytime, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission earlier this year.
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Trump has previously said he would not come back to Twitter even if his account were revived. He was booted off the platform – along with Facebook, Instagram, and most other social media – last year following the January 6 Capitol riot, for allegedly inciting violence by encouraging his supporters to protest against the certification of the 2020 election results. His most recent tweet remains a post from January 8 stating that he would not attend President Joe Biden’s inauguration.
Trump officially announced his candidacy for the 2024 election last week. If elected, he would be only the second president in history to serve two non-consecutive terms.
