Elon Musk stated on Tuesday that if his acquisition goes through, he will lift Twitter’s ban on former President Donald Trump.

“Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or scam, spam accounts… I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” Musk stated during the Future of the Car conference hosted by FT Live. “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.”

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“I would reverse the permanent ban,” Musk, who is anticipated to become interim CEO following the takeover, commented. “I don’t own Twitter yet. So this is not like a thing that will definitely happen, because what if I don’t own Twitter?”

Following the attack on the US Capitol by his supporters, Twitter permanently suspended Trump in January 2021. The decision was made following the Jan. 6 disturbance “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” according to the firm. Trump was a frequent tweeter, with more than 80 million followers on the platform at the time.

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When Musk revealed his intention to take over the firm, in part to turn it into a free speech platform, speculation emerged as to whether he would bring Trump back to Twitter. Trump stated last month that if given the opportunity, he would not return to the social network.

“No, I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump stated to CNBC. Following the ban, Trump established Truth Social, which bills itself as an alternative to Big Tech platforms for free speech.

“I will be on Truth Social within the week. It’s on schedule. We have a lot of people signed up. I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot. He’s an excellent individual. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump declared.

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Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, acknowledged on Tuesday that Trump had declared he would not return to the platform. Nonetheless, those close to him believe Trump will return to Twitter.

Trump administration officials and Democratic strategists have expressed concern about a Musk Twitter takeover ahead of the 2024 presidential election. According to CNBC, some officials of the Biden administration were anxious that Musk would allow Trump and other Republican operatives who had been barred from the platform to rejoin.