Elon Musk says he'd let Trump back on Twitter


Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Tuesday brought an end to the speculation and confirmed he would, in fact, undo former President Donald Trump's permanent suspension as the owner of newly-purchased Twitter.
"I do think that it was not correct to ban Donald Trump," Musk said at the Financial Times Future of the Car summit. "I think that was a mistake because it alienated a large part of the country, and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."
Musk described the ex-president's ban as a "morally bad decision" that could undermine trust in Twitter, per The Wall Street Journal.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"If there are tweets that are wrong and bad, those should be either deleted or made invisible, and a suspension — a temporary suspension— is appropriate, but not a permanent ban," he continued, noting that ex-Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey agrees with him.
What still remains to be seen, however, is whether Trump even opts to rejoin the platform under Musk's pending leadership. In April, Trump told Fox News he would actually refrain from reactivating his account and stick to his homegrown Truth Social, instead (though few actually believe that to be true).
Musk also on Tuesday acknowledged that his $44 billion purchase has yet to be finalized, meaning "this is not a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don't own Twitter?"
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Brigid Kennedy worked at The Week from 2021 to 2023 as a staff writer, junior editor and then story editor, with an interest in U.S. politics, the economy and the music industry.
-
3 officers killed in Pennsylvania shooting
Speed Read Police did not share the identities of the officers or the slain suspect, nor the motive or the focus of the still-active investigation
-
Fed cuts interest rates a quarter point
Speed Read ‘The cut suggests a broader shift toward concern about cracks forming in the job market’
-
ABC shelves ‘Kimmel Live’ after Trump FCC threat
Speed Read ‘A free and democratic society cannot silence comedians because the president doesn’t like what they say’
-
Trump allies reportedly poised to buy TikTok
Speed Read Under the deal, U.S. companies would own about 80% of the company
-
Google avoids the worst in antitrust ruling
Speed Read A federal judge rejected the government's request to break up Google
-
Supreme Court allows social media age check law
Speed Read The court refused to intervene in a decision that affirmed a Mississippi law requiring social media users to verify their ages
-
What's Linda Yaccarino's legacy? And what's next for X?
Today's Big Question An 'uncertain future' in the age of TikTok
-
Nvidia hits $4 trillion milestone
Speed Read The success of the chipmaker has been buoyed by demand for artificial intelligence
-
X CEO Yaccarino quits after two years
Speed Read Elon Musk hired Linda Yaccarino to run X in 2023
-
Musk chatbot Grok praises Hitler on X
Speed Read Grok made antisemitic comments and referred to itself as 'MechaHitler'
-
Another Starship blast sets back Musk's Mars hopes
Speed Read Nobody was killed in the explosion, which occurred in south Texas