Trump Makes Fleeting Return to Twitter With Mugshot Post, but It’s Unclear if He’ll Stay
President Trump had been reinstated on Twitter, now known as X, by Elon Musk, but prior to Thursday night’s posting, he had said he was not inclined to return to the platform, which banned him in January 2021.
President Trump, fresh out of the Fulton County Jail, may be returning to the platform formerly known as Twitter, though so far he’s only made one post on X.
The post, the first from Mr. Trump since he was banned from the platform in January 2021, reads, “MUG SHOT — AUGUST 24, 2020,” with a caption that says, “ELECTION INTERFERENCE,” “NEVER SURRENDER,” and a link to DonaldTrump.com, his official WinRed page for fundraising.
The platform had banned Mr. Trump due to his role in the January 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, saying that his tweets around the event violated the company’s “Glorification of Violence” policy.
Some of the same tweets that earned Mr. Trump a suspension from the platform are now being used against him in the case against him in Georgia.
When billionaire Elon Musk bought the platform in 2022, claiming that it was censoring conservatives, he held a poll to see whether users wanted the platform to allow Mr. Trump back on.
The poll’s results came out in favor of Mr. Trump, with 52 percent of respondents supporting the former president. Mr. Musk, who appeared to favor Mr. Trump’s return, then reinstated his account.
“The people have spoken,” Mr. Musk said. “Trump will be reinstated.”
Mr. Trump, though, did not immediately return to the platform, saying during a virtual appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition that he sees “no reason” for returning to the platform.
“I don’t see any reason for it, they have a lot of problems at Twitter, you see what’s going on. It may make it, it may not make it,” Mr. Trump said.
Mr. Musk appears to continue to be in support of Mr. Trump’s return, calling Mr. Trump’s latest tweet “Next-level” after having previously retweeted Mr. Trump’s interview with a talk show host, Tucker Carlson.
As it stands, it’s not clear whether Mr. Trump will be making a return to the platform in earnest or if he will remain primarily on Truth Social, his own social media platform started in reaction to the suspension. On Truth Social, though, Mr. Trump enjoys only a fraction of the followers.
Since he posted last night, his accounts on both X and Truth Social have fallen silent.
