Trump won't rejoin Twitter even if Elon Musk invites him back

Former President Donald Trump told Fox News on Monday that he won't return to Twitter even if Elon Musk, the platform's new owner, invites him back. Instead, Trump will stick to his own social media app — TRUTH Social.

"I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH," Trump said. "I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on TRUTH."

Twitter banned Trump last January for allegedly instigating the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. In response, Trump began developing TRUTH Social, which is almost identical to Twitter in appearance and function.

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The app launched last month but was quickly bogged down by technical glitches and a massive waitlist. In early April, the app was still languishing in 36th place on the Apple App Store's social networking charts. As of press time, the waitlist has cleared, and TRUTH Social is the ninth most popular social networking app on the Apple App Store.

Twitter announced Monday that it had reached an agreement with Elon Musk, who would purchase the company for about $44 billion. Musk's frequent championing of free speech led many to speculate that the billionaire Tesla founder would reinstate the account of the billionaire former president, though Musk himself has yet to address the issue directly.

Trump hasn't posted to TRUTH Social since mid-February, when he wrote — with his characteristically irregular capitalization — "Get Ready! Your favorite President will see you soon!" Trump told Fox News he plans to start posting regularly over the next week.

According to MarketWatch, TRUTH Social has around 513,000 daily active users. Twitter has 217 million.