Donald Trump claims he won't return to Twitter after Elon Musk's purchase: 'Bottom line is, no.'
- Donald Trump told Fox News he's not returning to Twitter after Elon Musk's purchase.
- Musk will buy the social network for $44 billion.
Donald Trump said he won't be returning to Twitter anytime soon amid news that billionaire Elon Musk will purchase the social network for $44 billion.
Instead, Trump said in an interview with Fox News that he would join his own new social network, TRUTH Social, in the coming days.
"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," Trump told Fox News just before Musk's deal was formally announced. "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."
"The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter," Trump said.
Trump's post-presidential office did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.
Trump was banned from Twitter in January 2021, after a mob of his supporters attempted to stop the certification of the 2020 election by ransacking the US Capitol. His tweets had repeatedly violated Twitter's rules against spreading disinformation, instigating violence, and during the COVID-19 pandemic, spreading false information about the disease.
Musk has not said if he would force Twitter to reverse the ban should he take ownership of the company, but has said, "I believe free speech is a societal imperative for a functioning democracy."
Many Republican politicians, such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia, have cheered on the news of Musk's interest in purchasing Twitter. They believe that the billionaire CEO of Tesla, who has a freewheeling Twitter personality of his own, would make the platform more friendly to conservatives.
Since losing his @realDonaldTrump account and the nearly 90 million followers that had signed up for his spontaneous posts, Trump has mainly made himself heard through statements put out by his office.
Several right-wing social networks have attempted to gain traction since Trump's banishment from Twitter. Their creators say they are meant to be a safe haven from Big Tech's alleged censorship of conservatives — and Twitter and Facebook's content moderation policies.
Trump is personally backing TRUTH Social, though its development has been beset by delays.
"We're taking in millions of people, and what we're finding is that the response on TRUTH is much better than being on Twitter," Trump told Fox News. "Twitter has bots and fake accounts, and we are doing everything we can."
Jason Miller, the CEO of the conservative social media platform GETTR, told Insider in an interview that he thinks Trump will run for president again in 2024.
"The one litmus test when it comes to Twitter trying to get its reputation back is letting Trump back on the platform," he said on Monday.
If Twitter were to open its doors to Trump, then he should take the company up on it — as well as join all available social media platforms to reach a broad audience, said Miller, who is a former Trump advisor.
Miller doesn't expect that Twitter will let Trump back on, however, saying, "I don't think Musk will pick this hill to die on."
Some of Trump's other allies think he shouldn't rejoin Twitter, even if Musk's ownership means that the social network will reinstate his account.
Being off Twitter "has actually ironically benefited him," Sean Spicer, Trump's former White House press secretary, told Insider last week. "And therefore I would argue that he should reap those benefits."
Trump seemed to agree.
"TRUTH Social will be a voice for me," Trump told Fox News. "And that's something nobody else can get."