After nearly two years of being off Twitter, Elon Musk announced that he will reinstate former president Donald Trump’s Twitter account.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” he tweeted.
The news comes after a poll he posted on Friday asking Twitter users if he should be allowed back after being barred from the platform following Tweets he posted on Jan. 6, 2021. Twitter kicked him off the platform, citing that “his posts had the risk of inciting violence,” The New York Times reported.
The poll revealed that 52% of users who answered the poll were in favor of reinstating the former president, per The Washington Post.
Musk has long argued he doesn’t think Trump should have been taken down in the first place.
Has Trump tweeted anything yet?
A Twitter account with Trump’s handle showed up on Saturday, and has slowly been gaining more followers, but no new tweets yet.
Trump was an avid Twitter user leading up to his presidency and throughout his term in office, speaking directly to his audience.
Earlier this year, he launched Truth Social, his new social media platform that has struggled to gain momentum.
When asked if he would return to Twitter if he were allowed back, Trump told Bloomberg News: “I don’t see any reason for it.”
But with the issues that have continued to plague Truth Social since that comment, maybe a return to Twitter is imminent.
What’s going on at Twitter?
The last week at Twitter headquarters has been chaotic, to say the least.
Soon after taking over Twitter, Musk laid off about half of the company’s employees earlier this month. On Wednesday, he announced a “hardcore” approach to work, expecting employees to commit to long hours or take severance and leave, Deseret News reported.
As of Friday, about 1,200 employees have left, The New York Times reported.