Will Trump actually return to Twitter?

Donald Trump is officially back on Twitter, but so far in name only.

Elon Musk restored the MAGA commander-in-chief’s account in the early hours of Sunday, but the former US president has insisted he won’t be getting his tweet on any time soon.

Trump claims to be committed to his own rival social media platform, Truth Social, and so doesn’t “see any reason” to return to his old online stomping ground.

But can he really resist the allures of that little blue bird forever? And what might convince him to come back?

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Here, we take a look at whether or not we should expect a triumphant Trump Twitter return in the coming weeks or months.

Why is he rejecting Twitter?

Trump has claimed he no longer needs the platform thanks to his own alternative.

During a discussion following Musk’s poll, Trump made a nice little Freudian slip, saying: “I have something called Trump… If you look, it’s Trump-owned, but it’s really fantastic – Truth Social.”

Indeed, it might as well be called Trump Social since he’s the only reason people join it.

The BBC’s US technology correspondent James Clayton explained: “Truth Social is where you go to find out what Donald Trump is saying – [it’s] pretty much the only reason why anyone would go to Truth Social. It's not a popular platform at all.

“I think Donald Trump knows that if he stops posting on Truth social, that's pretty much the business gone.”

And why does its survival matter to the ex-US leader? Because he’ll be out of pocket if it fails.

The platform was created by Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) in October 2021 in response to its founder’s expulsion from Twitter.

Trump is therefore financially motivated to stay put even though its reach is tiny compared to its big-name nemesis: Truth Social has around 1.7 million users, while Twitter boasts about 400 million.

What could convince him to make a Twitter comeback?

The 76-year-old has announced his intention to run as the Republican nominee in the US 2024 presidential election and, for this, he’ll want to reach as many people as possible.

As we’ve established, Truth Social is a cosy little echo chamber, not the big arena he’ll need to project his profile once the race gets underway.

For that reason, we doubt he’ll be able to resist Twitter in the long term. The question is, when will he return?

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