Musk Responds to Users Over Whether Trump Will Return to Twitter

Elon Musk arrives for the 2022 Met Gala at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York on May 2, 2022. Angela Weiss /AFP via Getty Images

Elon Musk on Oct. 31 weighed in on the widely-discussed possibility that former President Donald Trump would return to Twitter, days after taking over the social media platform.

“If I had a dollar for every time someone asked me if Trump is coming back on this platform, Twitter would be minting money!” Musk wrote in a Monday post, without further addressing a potential Trump return.

Last week, the world’s wealthiest person completed his $44 billion purchase of Twitter. The platform suspended indefinitely the former president’s account in January 2021, alleging that Trump violated its policies for his comments around the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

Musk once called the ban “flat-out stupid” and pledged to reinstate Trump’s account.

“It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice,” the billionaire said earlier this year, adding that such bans should be reserved to bots, or scam, spam accounts.

Lifting the ban, however, could have ripple effects for the social media giant. According to a Wall Street Journal report, some Twitter advertisers expressed worry in private to Musk and Twitter that the social media platform would have little-to-no content moderation. Kieley Taylor, global head of partnerships at GroupM, an advertising agency, told the Journal that some brands would stop advertising on the platform if Trump’s account is reinstated.

In an Oct. 27 message titled “Dear Twitter Advertisers,” Musk sought to assure advertisers, saying the platform would adhere to laws and be “warm and welcoming to all.” “Twitter obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences,” Musk said.

Trump has said he likely wouldn’t return to Twitter even if the platform reinstated his account but would stay with his own social media platform Truth Social. Last week, the former president applauded Musk’s successful acquisition of Twitter but didn’t commit a return.

“I am very happy that Twitter is now in sane hands, and will no longer be run by Radical Left Lunatics and Maniacs that truly hate our country,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Oct. 28. “Twitter must now work hard to rid itself of all of the bots and fake accounts that have hurt it so badly. It will be much smaller, but better. I LOVE TRUTH!”

Musk is moving quickly to put his mark on Twitter by planning a series of reforms. Securities filings on Monday showed that Musk is now CEO of the company and its sole director, having dissolved the company’s entire board of directors. Reported changes include revisions to the user verification process, job cuts, and a possible price increase for Twitter Blue, the platform’s premium subscription service.

Musk also updated his profile picture on Monday to a boy holding a phone, while changing his bio description from “Chief Twit” to “Twitter Complaint Hotline Operator.”