Former President Donald Trump will not return to Twitter after Elon Musk purchased the social media firm, although the former commander-in-chief wished the world’s richest man the best in his most recent venture.
Musk revived efforts to purchase Twitter earlier this month after fighting the company in court over his attempt to cancel a previous offer, a move he said was driven by concerns that executives were underestimating the number of fake accounts on the platform. Trump, whose profile on the website drew millions of followers and was often the center of controversy during his time in the White House, commented during an interview with Fox Business that he will remain on Truth Social, the company he launched last year.
“I like Elon and I wish him a lot of luck. I hope he does well with it,” Trump told the outlet, adding, “I don’t think Twitter can be successful without me.”
Trump said that he prefers his own platform and will use it should he make a third bid for the Oval Office. “I am staying on Truth. I like it better, I like the way it works, I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth,” he continued. “If I choose to run, I will only use Truth.”
Earlier this year, Musk said he would cancel Trump’s ban from Twitter, a move that occurred due to his alleged role in the January 6 riots. Musk fired Vijaya Gadde, the Twitter executive who pushed for Trump’s suspension and suppressed the Hunter Biden laptop story days before the 2020 election, immediately after taking control of the company. He also fired CEO Parag Agrawal and CFO Ned Segal.
Despite his extensive history with communicating to the American electorate using Twitter, Trump is satisfied that his message is reaching the public via Truth Social. “When I put out a Truth, it is all over the place,” he said. “Everyone who is on Twitter and on all the other places, they all put it out anyway. I used to just put out public PR statements, and you know what, they were picked up.”
Musk, who also leads Tesla, SpaceX, and a variety of smaller startups, released a statement for the first time discussing why he decided to purchase the social media company in a deal that some said was overpriced. In essence, the multibillionaire wanted to ensure that there remains a platform devoted to promoting open dialogue and combatting polarization.
“The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk explained. “There is currently great danger that social media will splinter into far right wing and far left wing echo chambers that generate more hate and divide our society.”
He argued that “traditional media” has “fueled and catered” content to increase earnings. “I didn’t do it because it would be easy,” he continued. “I didn’t do it to make more money. I did it to try to help humanity, whom I love. And I do so with humility, recognizing that failure in pursuing this goal, despite our best efforts, is a very real possibility.”