Donald Trump slams Elon Musk over ‘ridiculous’ Twitter deal

Donald Trump slammed Elon Musk’s ‘ridiculous’ deal to buy Twitter for $44b after the billionaire Tesla owner delayed the takeover, risking a $1b break-up fee.

Donald Trump called Elon Musk’s deal to by Twitter “ridiculous” despite the billionaire’s promise to reinstate the former president’s account.

In a “Truth” on competing platform Truth Social, Trump said “there is no way Elon Musk is going to buy Twitter at such a ridiculous price”.

“Especially since realising it is a company largely based on BOTS or Spam Accounts,” he wrote.

“Fake anyone? “By the time you get rid of them, if that can even be done, what do you have? Not much? If it weren’t for the ridiculous Billion Dollar break-up fee, Elon would have already been long gone.”

Not one to miss an opportunity to promote his own products, Trump added: “Just my opinion, but Truth Social is MUCH better than Twitter and is absolutely exploding, incredible engagement!

Donald Trump slammed Elon Musk’s plan to buy Twitter at an inflated price.

Musk earlier sought to put fears at bay after Twitter’s share price plunged on the temporary halt of his much-anticipated deal to buy the social media giant.

“Still committed to acquisition,” he tweeted two hours after announcing a hold to the acquisition.

Musk earlier sent shockwaves through a stock market already reeling from a massive drop in tech companies. His follow-up saw Twitter’s share price recover but still below the $US54.20 of his offer.

If he breaks the deal, Musk would have to pay a $US1 billion break up fee, or he could pay the fee and offer a lower price for the acquisition of shares, trading at $US45.08 at time of press.

“Twitter deal temporarily on hold pending details supporting calculation that spam/fake accounts do indeed represent less than 5% of users,” he wrote on Twitter.

Still committed to acquisition

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2022

Mr Musk, the world’s richest man and founder of automaker Tesla, had made the eradication of spam accounts and bots one of the centrepieces of his proposed $US44 billion takeover of Twitter.

When the deal was announced in late April he said he wanted to make Twitter “better than ever” by “defeating the spam bots and authenticating all humans”.

Friday’s announcement saw shares drop by 20 per cent in early electronic trading before Wall Street opened.

Mr Musk’s potential stewardship of the social media platform has hit several bumps.

On Wednesday, Mr Musk said he would be open to lifting a ban on former president Donald Trump imposed after the attack on the US Capitol on January 6, 2021.

Activist groups had called on advertisers to boycott the platform if Mr Musk opened the gates to abusive and misinformative posts.

Mr Musk, whose takeover bid was accepted by Twitter’s board of directors last month but has not yet been finalised, made the comment during an interview with Financial Times on Tuesday.

“Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or scam, spam accounts … I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” Mr Musk said.

“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.”

“I would reverse the permanent ban.

“I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”

Elon Musk: “I would reverse” President Trump’s ban from Twitter
pic.twitter.com/9UxpfLf15j

— Greg Price (@greg_price11) May 10, 2022

Mr Trump was permanently banned from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat following the storming of the US Capitol while Congress was in session to officially certify Joe Biden’s electoral college victory on January 6 last year.

Twitter deemed a number of his tweets connected to the violent protests as inflammatory and warned of “the risk of further incitement of violence.”

Mr Musk’s statement is confirmation of earlier reports that he vehemently opposed Twitter’s decision to bar the 45th president from its platform, the NY Post reports.

Former US President Donald Trump greets Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla CEO, in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC. Picture: AFP

Jared Birchall, Mr Musk’s top assistant who has been described as the “point man” for the Tesla CEO’s $44 billion takeover bid of Twitter, told an associate that the idea of banning a sitting president from Twitter was “insane,” according to The Wall Street Journal.

Mr Musk reportedly “remains dismayed” that Mr Trump is still not permitted to tweet, according to the paper, which cited unnamed sources close to the situation.

Mr Trump supporters have been energised by the prospect of Mr Musk taking control of Twitter and overhauling its content moderation policy.

Mr Trump has previously said he would not return to Twitter even if offered the chance, saying he will stay on his Truth Social platform instead.

“I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,” Mr Trump told Fox News on April 25.

“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.

“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,” Mr Trump said.

“Twitter has bots and fake accounts, and we are doing everything we can.”

He added: “The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.”

Meanwhile Mr Musk, in a rare public reference to the situation last month, said Truth Social needed a name change.

“Truth Social (terrible name) exists because Twitter censored free speech,” Mr Musk tweeted. “Should be called Trumpet instead!”

Twitter’s decision to ban Mr Trump was a key point of disagreement between Mr Musk and then-CEO Jack Dorsey.

Originally published as Donald Trump slams Elon Musk over ‘ridiculous’ Twitter deal