Trump Says Twitter Now in ‘Sane Hands,’ Doesn’t Commit to Going Back

(Left) Tesla head Elon Musk talks to the press near Berlin on Sept. 3, 2020. (Right) Former President Donald Trump arrives to give remarks during a Save America Rally in Illinois on June 25, 2022. Maja Hitij, Michael B. Thomas/Getty Images

Former President Trump on Friday praised Elon Musk’s acquisition of Twitter but did not say whether he would use the platform again.

“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 Friday morning. “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!”

His post did not say if he would join Twitter if Musk decides to lift a ban on the former president’s account in January 2021. Twitter content moderators alleged that Trump violated its policies for his comments around the Jan. 6 Capitol breach.

After Musk announced he would buy the platform, Trump told news outlets that he would not rejoin and would prefer to stay on Truth Social, his own social media company. However, some lawmakers and strategists have speculated that he would be forced to use Twitter if he again runs for president in 2024.

Throughout his 2016 campaign, Trump used Twitter extensively and would often shift mainstream media attention to topics that he favored. Before his ban, the former president had amassed more than 80 million followers.

Musk’s bid to acquire Twitter came after months of back-and-forth between the two parties, including a lawsuit against Musk, as the Tesla CEO accused the company of hiding information about bots and automated accounts. Musk has described himself as a free speech absolutist and has criticized Twitter’s content moderation policies in the past.

Reports indicated that Musk fired CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, content moderation chief Vijaya Gadde, and others. Gadde was the Twitter executive that publically supported the decision to suspend Trump last year.

The reports, citing anonymous sources, said that the top executives were quickly escorted out of the firm’s San Francisco headquarters on Thursday afternoon. Neither Musk nor the others have publicly commented on the matter.

“The bird is freed,” Musk wrote on Twitter on Thursday, without elaborating.

Earlier in the day, the new Twitter owner told advertisers that the company “obviously cannot become a free-for-all hellscape, where anything can be said with no consequences,” according to a post he made. Under the deal, Musk is taking Twitter private, which means that the current board of directors and public trading of the stock will end.