Donald Trump's Twitter account 'reappears' after Elon Musk confirms its restoration

Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who recently acquired the microblogging firm Twitter, stated on Saturday night that former United States President Donald Trump will be allowed to rejoin the microblogging site. After a poll showed that most users agreed with the notion, Musk said in a tweet, “The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei." As per the CBS News report, the Latin phrase literally translates as "the voice of the people is the voice of god." Furthermore, this came after Musk asked Twitter followers on Friday and Saturday if Trump's account should be restored, and a slim majority of respondents chose to do so. 

However, Trump's Twitter account, which had previously seemed to be suspended, soon resurfaced on the site with all of his previous tweets—more than 59,000—in place. However, originally all of his supporters had vanished, CBS News reported. 

Donald Trump's Twitter count reappears  Image: Twitter

It is pertinent to mention that Musk had earlier stated that he would wait to form a "content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints" before making any "major content decisions" or account reinstatements. 

On Friday, Musk published a 24-hour poll asking people if the previous president's account should be restored. 51.8% of people chose yes in the end, while 48.2% chose no.  

Trump's account was suspended after the US Capitol attack

In the aftermath of the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021, the former president was expelled from the platform. At the time, Twitter management stated that the suspension was implemented out of concern about future incitement to violence. 

Trump later established Truth Social, which he hailed as a forum for conservatives and a counterweight to leftist media. Twitter blocked Trump's account for 12 hours on January 6, 2021, and it also deleted a number of tweets that the company deemed to be in "severe violation" of its rules. 

Although his profile had been restored as of 8:30 p.m. (local time) on Saturday, it remained unclear whether Trump would truly return to Twitter. 

Notably, Musk’s Twitter poll came four days after Trump declared his bid for the presidency in 2024.  

Donald Trump, who was an unstoppable tweeter before his suspension, has previously claimed that he would not return to Twitter even if his account were to be restored. He has been depending on Truth Social, a far more modest social media platform that he started after being banned from Twitter. 

(Image: AP/ Unsplash)