Trump plans Twitter return for 2024 campaign

Newly reinstated to Twitter, Trump pushes return to Facebook and Instagram, seeking to step up campaign to win a second term in the White House.

Former US President Donald Trump speaks at the Mar-a-Lago Club in Palm Beach, Florida, after pulling the trigger on a third White House run. Picture: AFP

Donald Trump is pushing to return to Facebook and Instagram as he seeks to step up his campaign to win a second term in the White House.

Trump, 76, was banned two years ago, accused of inciting violence after his supporters besieged the US Capitol. Sir Nick Clegg, president of global affairs at Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is due to deliver a review of the decision this month.

Elon Musk, the owner of Twitter, has reinstated Trump’s account after a similar ban, but the former president has not resumed tweeting, preferring his own social media site, Truth Social. Sources suggest that Trump is considering a Twitter comeback too, however. His account has 87.7 million followers, compared with 34 million on Facebook but only 4.8 million on Truth Social.

The previously suspended Twitter account of Donald Trump is displayed on a mobile phone with the former President Trump's Truth's page shown in the background. He has been posting on his own site, Truth Social, after being banned from other social media. Picture: AFP

“We are talking to them [Meta] and we’ll see how it all works out,” Trump told Fox News Digital. “If they took us back, it would help them greatly, and that’s OK with me. But they need us more than we need them.”

A source close to Trump added that he was “probably coming back to Twitter”, telling NBC News: “He’s been talking about it for weeks, but Trump speaks for Trump, so it’s anyone’s guess what he’ll do, or say, or when.”

Elon Musk reinstated Trump’s Twitter account after he took over the social media company. Picture: AFP

Trump announced his third run for the Republican nomination in November but has not made any public appearances since then. He wrote on Truth Social yesterday (Thursday): “The Fake News says I am not campaigning very hard. I say they are stupid and corrupt, with the Election still a long time away. But do not fear, MANY GIANT RALLIES and other events coming up soon. It will all be wild and exciting.”

A poll for Morning Consult showed Trump on 48 per cent support among potential Republican primary voters, and Ron DeSantis, the governor of Florida, on 31 per cent.

The Times