Elon Musk says he'll let Donald Trump back on Twitter if his buyout happens

Donald Trump Twitter Account (Image credit: Twitter)

What you need to know

Prospective Twitter owner Elon Musk says he would allow former President Donald Trump back onto the service.
Trump was previously banned from Twitter and other social networks over the January US Capitol attack.
Musk's $44 billion Twitter purchase is pending.

Elon Musk says that he will reverse Twitter's ban on Donald Trump's account if he completes his buyout of the social media service. Trump was previously banned on January 8, 2022, after he was accused of inciting violence at the United States Capitol. Twitter wasn't the only social media company to ban Trump with Facebook and YouTube also doing so.

Speaking at a Financial Times autos conference, the Wall Street Journal says Musk confirmed that he would let Trump back onto the platform — as and when it's actually his. The $44 billion purchase is yet to complete.

"I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump. I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice," Musk reportedly said. He also went on to say that he doesn't believe that anyone should be permanently banned from Twitter. "If there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension — a temporary suspension — is appropriate, but not a permanent ban," he said, although it isn't clear how that will prevent repeat offenders from doing exactly that — repeatedly offending.

The fact that Musk will allow Trump back onto Twitter if his purchase is completed isn't a big surprise, of course. The Tesla CEO has previously claimed that Twitter's banning of Trump and others constitutes an attack on free speech. However, Trump recently said that he wouldn't jump back on Twitter even if he could. Instead, he'll remain on his own social network dubbed Truth.

Whether that would actually happen remains to be seen, of course, and there is no guarantee that Musk's purchase of Twitter will go through. If it does, however, all eyes will be on Musk to see what happens next, and not just in the case of Trump.

Oliver Haslam has written about Apple and the wider technology business for more than a decade with bylines on How-To Geek, PC Mag, iDownloadBlog, and many more. He has also been published in print for Macworld, including cover stories. At iMore, Oliver is involved in daily news coverage and, not being short of opinions, has been known to 'explain' those thoughts in more detail, too.

Having grown up using PCs and spending far too much money on graphics card and flashy RAM, Oliver switched to the Mac with a G5 iMac and hasn't looked back. Since then he's seen the growth of the smartphone world, backed by iPhone, and new product categories come and go. Current expertise includes iOS, macOS, streaming services, and pretty much anything that has a battery or plugs into a wall. Oliver also covers mobile gaming for iMore, with Apple Arcade a particular focus. He's been gaming since the Atari 2600 days and still struggles to comprehend the fact he can play console quality titles on his pocket computer.