Donald Trump says he won’t rejoin Twitter, even if he’s allowed back

Former President Donald Trump said he won’t consider joining Twitter again if he’s allowed back on.

“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on Truth,” Trump told Fox News, referencing his site Truth Social.

Trump was permanently suspended by Twitter in 2021 for violating the site’s terms of service against glorifying violence with his tweets following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.

Some have wondered whether Tesla founder Elon Musk would let Trump rejoin Twitter after announcing he purchased the social network for about $44 billion on Monday. Musk hasn’t commented on whether he’d allow Trump back, but Trump said he’s finished with Twitter.

“It became boring because there was no interaction,” he said. Trump claimed interaction on his social network has been “amazing.”

Trump’s first and only post on Truth Social came in February, the month the site launched. “Get ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!” he wrote.

But the site has been off to a slow start. Two executives quit after a botched launch, according to Reuters, and as of April 4, the app had been downloaded an estimated 1.2 million times, well below download rates for more established alternative social networks that cater to the right, like Parler and Gettr.

Trump told Fox News he wants “everybody to come over to Truth — conservatives, liberals, whatever.”

“We want everybody,” he said.

Trump’s thoughts still make their way to Twitter by way of spokesperson Liz Harrington, who tweets screenshots of his statements.

On Tuesday, Truth Social downloads overtook downloads of Twitter on the Apple App Store, and Harrington tweeted Trump’s reaction.

“Truth Social is number ONE in the Apple App Store!” Trump wrote in the statement.

Twitter was a powerful tool for Trump. His @realdonaldtrump Twitter account had more than 88.7 million followers when he was suspended, and he often used it to influence the news cycle. Research published in Nature Communications in 2020 found Trump’s tweets systematically diverted attention away from news that was unflattering to him.