Following his arrest and booking at the Fulton County Jail on election-related charges on Thursday evening, Donald Trump posted his mug shot on X, formerly known as Twitter. This marked Trump’s return to the social media site that helped launch his political career after a years-long absence that started after the January 6 riot.
The mug shot, which was captioned with the words “ELECTION INTERFERENCE!” and “NEVER SURRENDER,” was Trump’s first post on X since January 8, 2021.
Trump was permanently suspended from the platform “due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” according to a statement from the company, which issued the suspension two days after the January 6 U.S. Capitol riot.
Elon Musk reinstated former President Donald Trump’s account months ago, and the first thing Trump has posted is his own mug shot.
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According to a Rolling Stone article from January of this year, Trump decided not to extend the exclusivity agreement he had with Truth Social, which was due to expire in June. Even though, earlier on Thursday evening he published the picture of his mug shot on Truth Social. Prior to it, he participated in a video interview with Tucker Carlson that was broadcast on X and timed to the GOP debate. (After departing the network, the former Fox News personality moved his programme to the platform in May.)
Trump was initially charged in April for allegedly paying adult film star Stormy Daniels hush money. Trump’s 2024 campaign released a t-shirt with a false mugshot after he left the Manhattan courthouse where he was detained.
“He’s Back” has been trending on Twitter ever since the social media post with all kinds of reactions from users.
Musk polled Twitter followers on November 18, 2022, asking them if he should restore Trump. The following day, he announced that he would do so in response to the poll’s findings. (Of the approximately 15 million responses, 51.8% were in favour of it and 48.2% were against it.) Although the former president hinted there was no need for him to return to Twitter given the success of Truth Social and the fact that he sees “a lot of problems on Twitter,” Trump’s account was unsuspended concurrently with the announcement, according to Bloomberg. However, he did urge his supporters to cast a “yes” ballot.
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Before reinstating Trump’s account last year, Musk also brought back the accounts belonging to the conservative parody outlet The Babylon Bee, comedian Kathy Griffin, and author Jordan Peterson.
