Elon Musk REINSTATES Donald Trump Twitter account after holding poll account has lost 89m followers

Elon Musk has reinstated former President Trump’s Twitter account on Saturday night after being barred from the platform for almost two years.

But Trump appeared to have his almost 90 million followers wiped clean from his account and was starting from scratch. 

Within hours of being reinstated onto the platform, Trump’s account had already garnered more than 2.3 million followers. 

An irrepressible tweeter before he was banned, there were no new Tweets from Trump who used Twitter as his primary communication tool both while running for president, and while in office.

His tweets would move the markets, set the news cycle and drove the agenda in Washington. 

The move reverses a ban that has kept the former president off the social media site since a pro-Trump mob attacked the US Capitol on January 6 2021 as Congress was poised to certify Joe Biden’s election victory. 

The controversial decision comes only three weeks after Musk acquired the social media company for $44 billion and after he ran a public vote in which 15 million users cast their ballots.

After 24 hours of voting, the poll saw 51.8% pushing for Trump to be reinstated to the platform.  

Musk tweeted: ‘The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.’

‘Vox Populi, Vox Dei,’ Musk added, a Latin phrase that roughly means meaning ‘the voice of the people is the voice of God.’

‘Fascinating to watch Twitter Trump poll!’ Musk said earlier on Saturday morning in a blast of tweets from the controversial and hard-charging new owner of the one-to-many messaging platform. 

On Tuesday, Trump announced he was running for president once again in 2024 and on Saturday stated he would not return to Twitter, preferring instead to focus on his Truth Social app.

‘I don’t see any reason for it,’ the former president said via video when asked whether he planned to return to Twitter by a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition’s annual leadership meeting on Saturday.

‘I do like him… you know, he’s a character and again, I like characters,’ Trump said of Musk.

‘He did put up a poll and it was very overwhelming… but I have something called… Truth Social.’

Trump said he would stick with his new platform, the app developed by his startup, which he said had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing ‘phenomenally well’.

But at the time of his suspension, Trump had close to 90 million followers. When the account was reactivated on Saturday evening, all of Trump’s followers had been removed but numbers quickly reached more than 1 million.

Trump has some 4.57 million followers on his Truth Social platform. 

Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting on the app regularly in May. 

He has used Truth Social to promote his allies, criticize opponents and defend his reputation amid legal scrutiny from state, congressional and federal investigators.

Trump on Saturday issued a statement about the poll and the possibility of being reinstated. ‘Vote now with positivity, but don’t worry, we aren’t going anywhere,’ Trump said. ‘Truth Social is special!’ 

His agreement with the company, however, opens the door for Trump to engage extensively on other platforms. Trump is obligated to give Truth Social a six-hour exclusive on any post – but is free to post ‘political messaging, political fundraising or get-out-the vote efforts’ on any site, at any time, according to a May SEC filing.

Trump, who on Tuesday launched a bid to regain the White House in 2024, praised Musk and said he had always liked him. But Trump also said Twitter suffered from bots, fake accounts and that the problems it faced were ‘incredible’.

‘They have a lot of problems at Twitter. You see what’s going on. It may make it, it may not make it, but the problems are incredible,’ Trump said.

Musk, Twitter’s new owner, said in May he would reverse Twitter’s ban on Trump, whose account was suspended following the January 2020 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he is accused of stoking.  

Musk had previously sought to reassure users and advertisers that such a decision would be made with consideration by a content moderation council composed of people with ‘widely diverse viewpoints’ and no account reinstatements would happen before the council convened.

He also said Twitter would not reinstate any banned users until there was a ‘clear process for doing so.’

There has been no new information about process or the moderation council.

A no-show by Trump could reduce concerns among major advertisers, who are already rattled by Musk’s drastic reshaping of Twitter.

Musk is in the process of a huge restructuring of the company, including massive layoffs but he also appears to be part of his own of having fun with his new $44 billion purchase. 

The reinstatement of accounts ousted for violating Twitter’s content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where Musk, a self-described ‘free speech absolutist,’ wants to take the site. 

Trump was removed from Twitter on January 8th, 2021, two days following January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The platform first suspended him for 12 hours and for the first time deleted his tweets after he praised the mob who stormed Congress after he said he ‘loved’ them. 

He had 80 million followers at the time, and was a huge fan of the site, using it to fire White House staff and issue broadsides at enemies and other global figures including Kim Jong Un, as well as Greta Thunberg.  

The reinstatement of accounts ousted for violating Twitter’s content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where Musk, a self-described ‘free speech absolutist,’ wants to take the site. 

Trump was removed from Twitter on January 8th, 2021, two days following January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The platform first suspended him for 12 hours and for the first time deleted his tweets after he praised the mob who stormed Congress after he said he ‘loved’ them. 

He had 80 million followers at the time, and was a huge fan of the site, using it to fire White House staff and issue broadsides at enemies and other global figures including Kim Jong Un, as well as Greta Thunberg.  

One of the deleted tweets read: ‘These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!’

In the deleted video, he poured more fuel on the fire, claiming the election was ‘stolen’ and telling the rioters that he ‘loved’ them.

At the time, and under previous management  Twitter said it had removed the tweets for violating their ‘Civic Integrity policy’. 

‘As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,’ the social media company said in January 2021.

It was the first time Twitter flagged a tweet as posing ‘a risk of violence.’ 

Trump subsequently launched his own version of Twitter, called TruthSocial. It has become increasingly popular, although still has nowhere near the clout or reach of Twitter, which was set up in San Francisco in 2006. 

In a memo on Friday to remaining employees, Musk asked those who write software code to report to the 10th floor of the Twitter’s headquarters in San Francisco by early afternoon.

The billionaire said in a follow-up email: ‘If possible, I would appreciate it if you could fly to SF to be present in person,’ adding he would be at the office until midnight and would return Saturday morning.

He asked employees to email him a summary of what their software code has ‘achieved’ in the past six months, ‘along with up to 10 screenshots of the most salient lines of code.’

‘There will be short, technical interviews that allow me to better understand the Twitter tech stack,’ Musk wrote in one of the emails, and asked engineers to report at 2pm on Friday.

The emails came a day after hundreds of Twitter employees were estimated to have decided to leave the beleaguered social media company following a Thursday deadline from Musk that staffers sign up for ‘long hours at high intensity.’

The exodus adds to the change and chaos that have marked Musk’s first three weeks as Twitter’s owner. 

He has fired top management including former CEO Parag Agarwal and senior officials in charge of security and privacy, drawing scrutiny from a regulator.

A White House official also weighed in, saying Twitter should tell Americans how the company was protecting their data.

Earlier on Friday Musk revealed Twitter had reinstated some controversial accounts that had been banned or suspended, including satirical website Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin. 

The Chief Twit, who dubbed the day ‘Freedom Friday,’ announced that Griffin, who had called him an ‘a******,’ would be reinstated on the social media after she was suspended for impersonating him on Twitter last week. 

Also back was conservative author and psychologist Dr. Peterson, who was suspended from the platform after saying transgender star Elliot Page had his breasts removed by a ‘criminal physician.’ 

The Babylon Bee – which had its account restricted in march for naming U.S. assistant secretary for health Rachel Levine, a transgender woman, ‘Man of the Year’ –  got full access to its account as well. 

Musk has widely criticized Twitter’s suspension policies and vowed to bring back prominent figures.

He says he will punish people who post hateful things by suppressing the visibility of their accounts – but won’t ban them outright, because of his staunch belief in free speech.  

The CEO’s latest announcement comes as the company lost 1,200 staffers who refused Musk’s ultimatum to adhere to a new ‘hardcore’ work environment or resign.  

Along with reinstating the three accounts, Musk, who describes himself as a champion of free-speech, outlined the companies latest policy regarding that very issue. 

‘New Twitter policy is freedom of speech, but not freedom of reach,’ Musk tweeted. Negative/hate tweets will be max deboosted & demonetized, so no ads or other revenue to Twitter. 

‘You won’t find the tweet unless you specifically seek it out, which is no different from rest of Internet.’

The Chief Twit added: ‘Note, this applies just to the individual tweet, not the whole account.’ 

Following his reinstatement, Peterson tweeted a picture of Jack Nicholson from The Shining, writing: I’m back. Thanks @elonmusk.’    

The Babylon Bee, a conservative Christian satire site, which could not post on its account until it deleted the offending tweet, also thanked Musk. 

‘We’re back. Let that sink in,’ the site tweeted, referencing Musk’s remarks after his Twitter acquisition.  

Following his takeover of Twitter, Musk said that ‘no major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen,’ without the approval of a new content moderation council that has ‘widely diverse viewpoints.’ 

Along with Trump, the big names that remain booted from Twitter include Roger Stone, Alex Jones, Steve Bannon and US Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. 

Stone has said he wants to come back after being banned in 2017 for attacking a journalist. 

He was briefly back on Twitter in April using an alternate account as he said he was ‘anxious to see how strong Elon Musk’s commitment to free speech is.’ 

Steve Bannon is another former Trump adviser also looking to return to the platform after being kicked out in 2020. 

The former White House chief strategist had posted a video suggesting Dr. Anthony Fauci and FBI Director Christopher Wray should be beheaded.  

One of the more controversial figures to be booted from the platform is InfoWars host Alex Jones, who was ordered to pay $95 million in damages over false claims that the Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting was a hoax. 

Families of the victims branded Jones a conspiracy theorist whose claims have caused years of harassment and even death threats from his believers. 

U.S. Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene also saw her personal account permanently suspended earlier this year after spreading COVID vaccine misinformation. 

The congresswoman had received multiple warnings before her account was pulled.

Also banned on Twitter are David Duke, the former grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, as well as Milo Yiannopoulous, who was accused of stirring abuse toward Ghostbusters actress Leslie Jones. 

Trump has said that he has no intention of returning to Twitter after he created his own social media site, Truth Social. 

As it reinstated the accounts, Twitter reportedly lost multiple ‘critical’ engineering teams following a mass exodus that saw its workforce fall by 32 percent following Chief Twit Elon Musk‘s  ultimatum to pledge to a ‘hardcore’ work environment or resign. 

Musk sent an email to his remaining 3,700 workers on Wednesday and gave them a 5pm ET Thursday deadline to either click a link confirming their willingness to work ‘long hours at high intensity’, or leave the company with three months severance pay.

Although it remains unclear exactly how many have confirmed their resignation, Fortune estimates between 1,000 to 1,200 employees have resigned so far, with Musk demanding all remaining coders show up to Twitter’s San Francisco HQ on Friday. 

On Twitter, Musk appeared unfazed by the mass resignations, claiming the site just ‘hit another all-time high’ in usage. ‘Let that sink in.’ 

As chaos befell the sight over rumors that it was shutting down over the mass exodus, Musk added: ‘What should Twitter do next?’ 

Many shared their departures on social media, including a viral video from Boston as workers counted down their last seconds at Twitter.  

Matthew Miller, whose LinkedIn profile states he’s worked as a Twitter engineer for 9 years, shared the video of himself and co-workers counting down the moment they no longer worked for the company following Musk’s deadline. 

‘Happy New Year,’ Miller yelled inside Twitter’s Boston office. ‘Yay! Hooray! That’s proper for the circumstance.’

Following the deadline, A former Twitter executive who recently left the company told CNN’s Oliver Darcy that: ‘Elon is finding out that he can’t bully top senior talent. They have lots of options and won’t put up with his antics.

‘[Twitter] will struggle just to keep the lights on.’