Former President Donald Trump's Twitter account has been reinstated by Elon Musk.
The account, which Twitter banned following the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol, was restored after Twitter CEO and new owner Elon Musk posted a poll on Twitter on Friday night asking the platform's users if Trump should be reinstated. "The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated," Musk tweeted Saturday night. "Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Latin for "the voice of the people is the voice of God."
The final poll results on Saturday night showed 51.8% in favor and 48.2% opposed. The poll included 15 million votes.
The much-anticipated decision from the new owner sets the stage for Trump's return to the social media platform where he was previously its most influential user. With almost 90 million followers, his tweets often moved the markets, set the news cycle and drove the agenda in Washington.
Trump has previously said he would remain on his platform, Truth Social, instead of rejoining Twitter, but a change in his approach could hold major political implications. Trump announced this month that he will seek the Republican presidential nomination in 2024, aiming to become only the second commander in chief ever elected to two nonconsecutive terms.
Asked on Saturday what he thought of Musk purchasing Twitter and his own future on the platform, Trump praised Musk but questioned whether the site would survive its current crises.
"They have a lot of problems," Trump said in Las Vegas at the Republican Jewish Coalition meeting. "You see what's going on. It may make it, it may not make it." Still, Trump said he liked Musk and "liked that he bought (Twitter.)"
Trump was previously removed from Twitter (before Elon Musk purchased the platform) last year. Before, the company began applying warning labels to his tweets in an attempt to censor his claims about the 2020 presidential election. And following the US Capitol riot on January 6, 2021, the platform banned him indefinitely.
"After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence," Twitter said at the time. "In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action."