Elon Musk restores Donald Trump’s Twitter account

Elon Musk said Saturday that Donald Trump will be reinstated on Twitter after an online vote among the platform’s users.

“The people have spoken. Trump is being reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk wrote on Twitter.

Trump’s account reappeared on the platform shortly after Musk’s tweet and included his previous posts. He last tweeted on January 8, 2021 with the message: “To everyone who asked, I’m not going to the inauguration on January 20.”

Musk asked users to vote on whether to return Trump’s account after he was permanently suspended following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.

According to Musk’s post, 52% voted for Trump’s reappointment and 48% against it. The results showed that more than 15 million votes were cast.

Trump now posts on his own social media platform, Truth Social. Trump urged his supporters to take the poll, but wrote: “Don’t worry, we’re not going anywhere.” Speaking to the Republican Jewish Coalition on Saturday and promoting Truth Social, Trump said of his return on Twitter: “I don’t see it because I don’t see a reason for it. You have a lot of problems on Twitter. You see what’s going on. It might make it, it might not, but the problems are incredible and the similarities are negative. And you have a lot of bots and you have a lot of fake accounts that I think should be continued.

Musk previously said he would end the ban on Twitter against Trump if he accepted responsibility. But when that happened, Musk then said he was establishing a content moderation board, without reinstatement until it was convened. It’s unclear what happened to this body or whether it was ever formed, as Musk’s tenure has been marked by mass layoffs and significant layoffs, as well as an advertiser flight.

Former Twitter management suspended Trump’s account on January 8, 2021. “Because of the risk of further incitement to violence.”