More than two years after major social media platforms suspended his accounts in the aftermath of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol Hill protest, former President Donald Trump has been reinstated on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.
RE-FRIENDED: Trump's suspensions from Facebook and Instagram will come to an end "in the coming weeks," parent company Meta announced. https://t.co/9TqJPpbuXp
"The public should be able to hear what politicians are saying so they can make informed choices," the statement read. pic.twitter.com/27xifG9ho7
— NEWSMAX (@NEWSMAX) January 25, 2023
Despite previously indicating a desire to post exclusively on his own Truth Social site even if the larger platforms lifted their bans, it appears that he might be willing to consider a return.
As his 2024 White House bid ramps up, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung noted earlier this year that social media would be a major factor in Trump’s ability to send his message directly to voters.
Referring to Facebook specifically, Cheung called it “an important tool for the 2024 campaign to reach voters through advertising, grassroots mobilization, and fundraising.”
Shortly thereafter, Meta — the parent company of Facebook and Instagram — issued a statement confirming that Trump’s accounts would be reinstated. That move came about two months after Twitter CEO Elon Musk decided to welcome him back to that platform.
Although the former president did not immediately begin posting on any of the sites, he addressed the development in an interview this week.
https://www.youtube.com/live/4geeU6J48kg?feature=share&t=719
“Twitter just took me back, Facebook just took me back, and Instagram just took me back,” he said. “And they want me — but it’s not exciting like it used to be because there’s no dialogue.”
Echoing his earlier assessment that “they need us more than we need them,” Trump lamented that there are “no people fighting a little bit” on the major social media platforms and they are “not the same like they used to be.”
Prior to Meta’s decision to reinstate his accounts, Trump suggested that if he were to return, it would be to the tech company’s benefit.
“If they took us back, it would help them greatly,” he said. “And that’s OK with me.”
Around the same time that Musk restored Trump’s Twitter access based on the results of a user poll, the former president signaled a reluctance to the platform that he once used as a primary method of communicating with the public.
“I don’t see any reason for it,” he said at an event in November. “They have a lot of problems at Twitter, you see what’s going on.”
