Sunday 20 November 2022 01:26 AM Elon Musk says Trump's Twitter account WILL be reinstated after 15 million ... trends now

Elon Musk has said he will reinstate former President Trump's Twitter account on Saturday night after being barred from the platform for almost two years.

The controversial decision comes only three weeks after he acquired the social media company for $44 billion and after Musk ran a public vote in which 15 million users cast their ballots.

After 24 hours of voting, the poll saw 51.8% pushing for Trump to be reinstated to the platform.  

 Musk tweeted: 'The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated.'

'Vox Populi, Vox Dei,' Musk added, a Latin phrase that roughly means meaning 'the voice of the people is the voice of God.' 

On Tuesday, Trump announced he was running for president once again in 2024 but also stated he would not return to Twitter, preferring instead to focus on his Truth Social app.

But at the time of his suspension, Trump had close to 90 million followers which may be hard for him to resist.

Musk, Twitter's new owner, said in May he would reverse Twitter's ban on Trump, whose account was suspended following the January 2020 attack on the U.S. Capitol, which he is accused of stoking. 

Musk is in the process of a huge restructuring of the company, including massive layoffs but he also appears to be part of his own of having fun with his new $44 billion purchase. 

The reinstatement of accounts ousted for violating Twitter's content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where Musk, a self-described 'free speech absolutist,' wants to take the site. 

Trump was removed from Twitter on January 8th, 2021, two days following January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The platform first suspended him for 12 hours and for the first time deleted his tweets after he praised the mob who stormed Congress after he said he 'loved' them. 

He had 80 million followers at the time, and was a huge fan of the site, using it to fire White House staff and issue broadsides at enemies and other global figures including Kim Jong Un, as well as Greta Thunberg.  

The reinstatement of accounts ousted for violating Twitter's content moderation rules has been seen as a bellwether of where Musk, a self-described 'free speech absolutist,' wants to take the site. 

Trump was removed from Twitter on January 8th, 2021, two days following January 6th riot at the Capitol.

The platform first suspended him for 12 hours and for the first time deleted his tweets after he praised the mob who stormed Congress after he said he 'loved' them. 

He had 80 million followers at the time, and was a huge fan of the site, using it to fire White House staff and issue broadsides at enemies and other global figures including Kim Jong Un, as well as Greta Thunberg.  

One of the deleted tweets read: 'These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long. Go home with love & in peace. Remember this day forever!'

In the deleted video, he poured more fuel on the fire, claiming the election was 'stolen' and telling the rioters that he 'loved' them.

At the time, and under previous management  Twitter said it had removed the tweets for violating their 'Civic Integrity policy'. 

'As a result of the unprecedented and ongoing violent situation in Washington, D.C., we have required the removal of three @realDonaldTrump Tweets that were posted earlier today for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy,' the social media company said in January 2021.

It was the first time Twitter flagged a tweet as posing 'a risk of violence.' 

Trump subsequently launched his own version of Twitter, called TruthSocial. It has become increasingly popular, although still has nowhere near the clout or reach of Twitter, which was set up in San Francisco in 2006. 

In a memo on Friday to remaining employees, Musk asked those who write software code to report to the 10th floor of the Twitter's headquarters in San Francisco by early afternoon.

The billionaire said in a follow-up email: 'If possible, I would appreciate it if you could fly to SF to be present in person,' adding he would be at the office until midnight and would return Saturday morning.

He asked employees to email him a summary of what their software code has 'achieved' in the past six months, 'along with up to 10 screenshots of the most salient lines of code.'

'There will be short, technical interviews that allow me to better understand the Twitter tech stack,' Musk wrote in one of the emails, and asked engineers to report at 2pm on Friday.

The emails came a day after hundreds of Twitter employees were estimated to have decided to leave the beleaguered social media company following a Thursday deadline from Musk that staffers sign up for 'long hours at high intensity.'

The exodus adds to the change and chaos that have marked Musk's first three weeks as Twitter's owner. 

He has fired top management including former CEO Parag Agarwal and senior officials in charge of security and privacy, drawing scrutiny from a regulator.

A White House official also weighed in, saying Twitter should tell Americans how the company was protecting their data.

Earlier on Friday Musk revealed Twitter had reinstated some controversial accounts that had been banned or suspended, including satirical website Babylon Bee and comedian Kathy Griffin. 

The Chief Twit, who dubbed the day 'Freedom Friday,' announced that Griffin, who had called him an 'a******,' would be reinstated on the social media after she was suspended for impersonating him on Twitter last week. 

Also back was conservative author and psychologist Dr. Peterson, who was suspended from the platform after saying transgender star Elliot Page had his breasts removed by a 'criminal physician.' 

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