Donald Trump returns to X

The former US president posted on the platform for the first time in nearly a year ahead of a live conversation with Elon Musk

Former US President Donald Trump returned to posting on X (formerly Twitter) on Monday after a break of nearly a year.

Trump’s return to a platform that had previously banned him came just hours before the Republican frontrunner in the 2024 presidential election was to be interviewed by X’s owner, Elon Musk. The billionaire reinstated Trump’s account shortly after purchasing the platform in 2022.

Trump’s first post was a two-and-a-half-minute-long advertisement titled ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ with no caption. The post of an ad, which covers his rise to becoming president and his subsequent legal battles, garnered more than 4.8 million views in less than an hour, with more than 50,000 reposts and 21,000 comments.

Another post by Trump criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, his Democratic rival in this year’s presidential election.
 

MEET SAN FRANCISCO RADICAL KAMALA HARRIS! https://t.co/MlIKklPSJT pic.twitter.com/lv4nGjNzae

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024

Trump also reposted a message from his campaign’s official X account promoting his interview on the platform with Musk, which will be hosted live on Trump’s official account starting at 8pm EDT (midnight GMT).
 
“It will be the interview of the century!” the all-caps post reads.

Musk publicly endorsed Trump’s re-election bid last month, shortly after the failed assassination attempt against the former president.

The “live conversation” with Trump will be “unscripted with no limits on subject matter,” Musk wrote on Sunday, adding it “should be highly entertaining” and encouraging users to post questions and comments.

ENJOY! pic.twitter.com/un0WwfJlpw

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 12, 2024

Monday marked just the second time Trump has posted on X since his account was suspended in the wake of the January 6 events and subsequently reinstated the following year. His only other post since then was on August 24, 2023, when he shared an image of his mug shot after surrendering to authorities in Atlanta on felony charges related to his efforts to overturn his election defeat in the state of Georgia in 2020.