Donald Trump has been officially reinstated to Twitter but on Saturday afternoon the former president cast doubt that he would return to the platform.
Trump posted on Truth Social, a social media service he has used since receiving a lifetime ban on Twitter in January 2021, that he would not be switching back over.
“Vote now with positivity, but don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere. Truth Social is special!” he posted.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk formally reinstated Trump this weekend after conducting a poll on the platform that received more than 15 million votes.
“Reinstate former President Trump: Yes or No,” the poll simply asked.
Fifty-two percent of users agreed he should be allowed back to the platform, which has already restored others subject to bans, including satirical account Babylon Bee, Kathy Griffin and Jordan Peterson.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” Musk wrote. “Vox Populi, Vox Dei.”
The people have spoken.
Trump will be reinstated.
Vox Populi, Vox Dei. https://t.co/jmkhFuyfkv
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 20, 2022
According to Musk, over 134 million people saw the poll.
Trump was previously banned from Twitter immediately after the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the U.S. Capitol building for allegedly inciting the violence or for fear he could use the platform in such a way.
Reinstate former President Trump
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 19, 2022
“Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” Musk added in a subsequent tweet, a Latin phrase that translates to “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
In another tweet, Musk mulled the option of utilizing more polls to help gauge support for potential actions. He also told one user that he could add a feature to be able to poll all active users in a country.
Trump’s handle @realDonaldTrump has been activated and users on Twitter are able to tag him in posts. As of Saturday evening, there were no new tweets.
Meanwhile, Trump posted several times to Truth on Saturday, including posts about his ongoing trials in New York, the FBI, and the midterm election results.
Trump told Fox News Digital in April that he would not be returning to Twitter, even if he were to be eventually reinstated.
“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,” Trump said at the time. “I hope Elon buys Twitter because he’ll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH.”
Musk has faced near-constant criticism since taking over the platform as he has fired most of its senior leadership and staff, overhauled the platform’s subscription and verification system, and announced a number of changes to its moderation.
JUST MAYBE THE OLD BLOCKHEAD REALIZES THAT TWITTER WAS “ONE” OF HIS MANY DOWNFALLS !!!!!!!!!!
I love it. Trump basically in a respectful way (which is weird for him) told Musk he can take his poll and shove it.
He used the “people” on Twittless, so this way if things go wrong with Trump he can blame it on the “people” and not him.
I wish “people” could’ve put that together. It took me about a day after reading so many replies to realize that. He reinstated others without a poll. Hum?