Trump says he is ‘staying’ on Truth Social despite restoration of his Twitter account

Despite his reinstatement to short form social posting platform Twitter, former President Donald Trump – the owner of Truth Social – said he doesn’t ‘see any reason’ to rejoin the platform.

Several days ago, new Twitter owner Elon Musk polled the site’s users on Trump’s reinstatement – the Yes votes won out by close to four percent after more than 15 million people voted.

Musk tweeted: ‘The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.’

‘Vox Populi, Vox Dei,’ Musk added, a Latin phrase that roughly means ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God.’

But it remains unclear if Trump will re-engage with the site that he once frequented with his passing thoughts.

Regardless of his decision, there are those who are already up in arms about the possibility of his presence returning to the site.

Progressive politicians including New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio Cortez, who wrote that the last time Trump was on Twitter ‘this platform was used to incite an insurrection, multiple people died, the Vice President of the United States was nearly assassinated, and hundreds were injured.’

Journalist and avid tweeter David Leavitt wrote that Musk’s decision to allow the former leader of the free world back on the site would ‘literally destroy the United States and potentially the planet.’

Leftwing absolutist Trump hater Seth Abramson tweeted in response to the reinstatement that Trump ‘has been treated with more deference and generosity by the federal criminal justice system than maybe any person in the history of the United States. He should’ve been in prison ten times over by now.’

NAACP president Derrick Johnson also weighed in on the reinstatement, saying that Musk is ‘failing our democracy’ and bashing Musk for failing to ‘reach out to marginalized communities’ for their input on the decision.

He added that ‘any advertiser still funding twitter should immediately pause all advertising now.’ 

Over the weekend, at the Republican Jewish Coalition Annual Leadership Meeting, Trump addressed his reinstatement, Musk’s takeover of the site and whether or not he actually plans to tweet again.

Via video call-in, Trump said he’d heard Musk’s poll was getting a big response, but that he doesn’t ‘see any reason for it (a return to Twitter).’

‘They have a lot of problems at Twitter. You see what ‘s going on. It (the company) may make it, it may not make it, but the problems are incredible and the engagements are negative,’ he said.

‘You have a lot of bots and you have a lot of fake accounts, which I think they should get on. But Truth Social has taken the place for a lot of people and I don’t see them going back onto Twitter,’ he said.

Since being kicked off Twitter in January of 2021, following the Capitol breach, the former president launched his own short form social media platform – Truth Social.

The site, which is headed by former GOP congressman Devin Nunes, has been plagued with its fair share of glitches, though Trump and its executives continue to tout its success.

Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting on the app regularly 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.

‘The press hate to talk about it, but it’s doing phenomenally well,’ Trump told the RJC panel of Truth. ‘I think engagement is much better than it is with Twitter, and it’s taking care of voices that really want to be taken care of, and really smart voices.’

‘Truth Social has been very, very powerful, very, very strong. And I’ll be staying there,’ he added.

Trump has some 4.57 million followers on his Truth Social platform. 

Though the former president did take to Truth to ask his followers to ‘vote now with positivity’ on Musk’s poll about whether or not to reinstate his Twitter account.

Prior to his ban on January 8, 2021, Trump had some 88 million followers on the app and frequently communicated some of his more candid thoughts via the platform.

Musk said in May he planned to reverse Trump’s ban, but ultimately left the decision up to users of the platform.

Trump said he supports Musk’s takeover of the platform.

‘I’ve always liked him,’ Trump said of Musk. ‘I got along with him very well during my days as president and I got to know him pretty well.’

‘He’s a character, and I tend to like characters, but he’s smart,’ he added.

At present, Trump has not yet posted anything on Twitter. His account currently has 83 million followers and his final tweet addresses the whether he would attend Joe Biden’s inauguration.

Prior to his ban, Trump’s tweets would move the markets, set the news cycle and drove the agenda in Washington.

On Tuesday, Trump announced he was running for president once again in 2024.

Earlier last week, Musk revealed Twitter had reinstated some controversial accounts that had been banned or suspended, including satirical website Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin. 

The Chief Twit, who dubbed the day ‘Freedom Friday,’ announced that Griffin, who had called him an ‘a******,’ would be reinstated on the social media after she was suspended for impersonating him on Twitter last week. 

Also back was conservative author and psychologist Dr. Peterson, who was suspended from the platform after saying transgender star Elliot Page had his breasts removed by a ‘criminal physician.’ 

The Babylon Bee – which had its account restricted in march for naming U.S. assistant secretary for health Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, ‘Man of the Year’ –  got full access to its account as well.

Along with reinstating the three accounts, Musk, who describes himself as a champion of free-speech, outlined the company’s latest policy regarding that very issue. 

‘New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,’ Musk tweeted. 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, which is no different from rest of Internet.’

The Chief Twit added: ‘Note, this applies just to the individual tweet, not the whole account.’