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.
Subscribe to 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.
-
Nicola Sturgeon's memoir: making the personal political
Talking Point Former Scottish first minister attempts to set record straight in 'Frankly' but does she leave more questions than answers?
-
Trump-Putin: would land swap deal end Ukraine war?
Today's Big Question Ukraine ready to make 'painful but acceptable' territorial concessions – but it still might not be enough for Vladimir Putin
-
The truth about sunscreen
The Explainer The science behind influencer claims that sun cream is toxic
-
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
-
Disney, Universal sue AI firm over 'plagiarism'
Speed Read The studios say that Midjourney copied characters from their most famous franchises
-
The noise of Bitcoin mining is driving Americans crazy
Under the Radar Constant hum of fans that cool data-centre computers is turning residents against Trump's pro-cryptocurrency agenda
-
What Elon Musk's Grok AI controversy reveals about chatbots
In the Spotlight The spread of misinformation is a reminder of how imperfect chatbots really are