Former President Donald Trump revealed Friday whether Elon Musk officially owning Twitter will change his mind on how he feels about the social media platform.
“I don’t think Twitter can be successful without me,” Trump told Fox News, but wished Musk “a lot of luck” and said he hopes Musk “does well with it.” Trump told the outlet he will be staying on his Truth Social media platform, which he thinks is “better,” “safe” and “feels like home.”
The Tesla CEO announced he officially acquired Twitter on Thursday night, tweeting out that “the bird is freed.”
the bird is freed
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 28, 2022
Musk is considering ending lifetime Twitter bans, Bloomberg reported Friday, citing an anonymous source. Trump’s account had nearly 89 million followers before the platform shut it down on Jan. 8, 2021, accusing the then-president of using his account to incite violence on Jan. 6.
“Twitter will be forming a content moderation council with widely diverse viewpoints,” Musk announced Friday. “No major content decisions or account reinstatements will happen before that council convenes.”
Trump expressed a strong preference for Truth Social but did not comment on whether he would resume posting on his Twitter account if Musk restores his account.
“I am staying on Truth. I like it better, I like the way it works. I like Elon, but I’m staying on Truth,” Trump told Fox News. (RELATED: Twitter Permanently Bans President Trump’s Account)
He told Fox News that banning him was “one of the worst decisions made in business in the last two years” and mentioned “how badly these platforms are doing.”
“Facebook is now down $80 billion and boring,” Trump told the outlet. “Twitter has been taken over, and, if it wasn’t for me, it would have never been taken over. No one would have even thought about it.”
“I made Twitter hot 12 years ago. I made Twitter hot,” he added. “And then when they terminated, it became cold, and that’s what happened.”