Former President Trump told Fox News Monday that he will not be returning to Twitter, which he is still banned from, while praising Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s move to acquire the platform.
Speaking to FoxNews.com, Trump said that he would stay on his own platform, Truth Social.
He added, “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.”
Musk has not publicly commented on whether he would restore Trump’s account, which was permanently banned from the platform shortly after the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection at the Capitol.
Trump’s comments come as Twitter reached a deal with Musk on Monday to purchase the company for around $44 billion in cash.
Trump touted his own social media network and said, “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. Twitter has bots and fake accounts, and we are doing everything we can.”
Trump said Twitter “became very boring because conservatives were thrown off or got off the platform when I left.”
He added, “The bottom line is, no, I am not going back to Twitter.”
Trump’s decision to return is not just up to him. However, Musk’s comments about free speech have stoked speculation that the former president might have his account reinstated.
Musk has openly criticized Twitter’s content moderators for what he calls “censorship” on the platform and has repeatedly vowed to protect free speech.
Trump’s office did not immediately respond to The Hill’s request for comment.
Former Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the CEO of Truth Social, told Fox News earlier on Monday that the 45th president will not return to Twitter. Nunes said that “he really doesn’t have an interest in going on Twitter.”
Truth Social has reportedly seen an uptick in installations over the past weekend. According to estimates shared with The Hill by Sensor Tower on Monday, Truth Social has seen approximately 1.4 million installs from the App Store to date — reaching more than 60,000 on Saturday and Sunday combined, six times higher than previous weekends and the most daily installs since its February launch.