Trump says he probably won't return to Twitter if Elon Musk buys the platform and reinstates his account

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Trump says he probably won't return to Twitter if Elon Musk buys the platform and reinstates his account
Former President Donald Trump, left, and Tesla CEO Elon Musk, right.Chris Seward, Hannibal Hanschke/AP Photo
  • Elon Musk offered to buy Twitter outright on Thursday.
  • Trump, who heavily used Twitter during his presidency, was barred from it after the Capitol riot.
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Former President Donald Trump said he probably wouldn't return to Twitter if Tesla CEO Elon Musk bought the platform and reinstated his account.

Trump's comments came after Musk offered to buy Twitter outright in a deal that values the company at $43 billion.

During an interview with Sirius XM's "Americano Media" hours later, Trump was asked if he would return to the platform if Musk gave him his account back, and what his first post would say.

He responded: "We're doing a big platform right now so I probably wouldn't have any interest. Twitter has become very boring, they've got rid of a lot of their good voices on Twitter, a lot of their conservative voices."

"Now it's boring and friends of mine tell me that Twitter is not the same place, it's a very boring place right now."

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Twitter permanently barred Trump from using the platform after the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, citing the "risk of further incitement of violence."

Conservative figures previously expressed hopes that Musk might reinstate Trump's Twitter account following his announcement of a 9.2% stake in the company, making him Twitter's largest shareholder at the time, Insider's Matthew Loh reported.

He has since lost the top spot. Asset manager Vanguard Group said in a filing lodged recently with the Securities and Exchange Commission that, as of April 8, its funds now own a 10.3% stake in the company.

When asked about his bid to buy all of Twitter at TED2022 in Vancouver on Thursday, Musk said: "I think it's very important for there to be an inclusive arena for free speech," Reuters reported.

Earlier this year Trump launched his own social-media platform, Truth Social, which was billed as a free-speech alternative to platforms like Twitter and Facebook.

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But the launch has been slow and the rollout largely botched. The Washington Post reported that Trump was furious about it.

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