Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, announced on Saturday night that he would reinstate the account of former US President Donald Trump, a day after running a poll on his Twitter account, asking users whether he should do so.
“The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated,” he wrote.
Musk originally posted the poll on Friday night, and later added, “Vox Populi, Vox Dei,” a Latin phrase meaning “the voice of the people is the voice of God.”
When the 24-hour poll closed on Saturday night, 51.8% of respondents had voted in favor of reinstating Trump and 48.2% said they did not think Trump’s account should be restored.
After Musk’s announcement, the account was indeed restored. The most recent tweet was posted on January 8, 2021, and it relates to the inauguration of Trump’s successor, President Joe Biden.
“To all of those who have asked, I will not be going to the Inauguration on January 20th,” Trump wrote at the time.
Twitter’s previous leadership infamously permanently suspended Trump’s account in the wake of the January 6, 2021 riots at the US Capitol. Several other social media platforms followed suit.
However, Musk said after his purchase of Twitter that he would reverse Trump’s ban from the platform.
"I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake," he said in May. "It alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."
Trump, for his part, said that he will not return to Twitter even if his account is reinstated following the platform's purchase by Musk.
He reiterated that on Saturday in an appearance at the Republican Jewish Coalition event in Las Vegas.
Trump said he “always liked” Musk but added “I don’t see any reason” when asked if he will return to the platform. Trump said he prefers his Truth Social, where he gets better “engagement.”