Donald Trump returned to Twitter on Monday, making his first post in almost a year just hours before he’s set to join the social media platform’s owner Elon Musk for a live interview.
The former president shared a campaign video construing his various legal battles as political persecution. The two-and-a-half minute clip racked up over 4.5 million impressions in just 30 minutes, with Trump’s formerly dormant account still boasting 88 million followers.
Trump was banned from Twitter in 2021 following the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol with the company citing “the risk of further incitement of violence.” Musk, having bought the platform and renamed is X, reinstated Trump’s account the following year.
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Once a prodigious tweeter, Trump has more recently scratched his social media itch on his own platform, Truth Social.
Coincidentally, Trump’s return to the platform comes after Truth Social suffered its own financial failings. According to April SEC filings, it lost $58 million in 2023 alone.
Like his company, his poll numbers have also taken a dip, with the New York Times reporting Saturday that Kamala Harris is beating him by four points in Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, and Michigan.
Musk, who last month said he “fully” endorses Trump, on Sunday said that his “live conversation” with the Republican nominee would take place at 8 p.m. Eastern Time on Monday. “This is unscripted with no limits on subject matter, so should be highly entertaining!” Musk wrote, inviting users to share questions and comments.
He also said he would be conducting “system scaling tests” ahead of the conversation apparently in anticipation of high viewing figures.
The last post Trump made on X before his lengthy silence on the site was a picture of his Fulton County Jail mugshot with the caption: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE NEVER SURRENDER!” The post on August 24, 2023 also contained a link to a fundraising page.
After sharing the campaign video, Trump sent out another message asking his followers how they’re faring since his presidency.
“Are you better off now than you were when I was president? Our economy is shattered. Our border has been erased. We're a nation in decline. Make the American Dream AFFORDABLE again. Make America SAFE again. Make America GREAT Again!” he wrote.
Trump then sent another promoting his conversation with Musk and three more videos touting what he plans to do if elected.
The first black-and-white video shows Trump walking down a hallway with a voiceover of him promising to “demolish” the deep state, warmongers, globalists, communists, and more.
A second video hits out against “radical” Kamala Harris. In it, Trump highlights through interview clips what he views as her liberal approaches to immigration, the border, and spending. The clips are set to dramatic music and intermittently cut away to Harris laughing.
The third opens with throwback clips while a narrator reads a quote about his views on foreign policy. It continues and knocks Joe Biden by showing a him seemingly dozing off and two clips of him stumbling. “Our fight has only just begun,” Trump says at the end of the video.
This flurry of activity could mark Trump's official return to X, but more than likely is just hype for his conversation with Musk.
