Former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks to the media at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport after surrendering at the Fulton County jail on August 24, 2023 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Joe Raedle | Getty Images
Former President Donald Trump posted to X, formerly Twitter, for the first time Thursday since his suspension from the platform, returning to share his mugshot in the Georgia election interference case.
The post raises the question of whether X will become an important channel for Trump’s election efforts moving forward. The former president has more than 86 million followers on the platform.
Trump’s last tweet is from January 8, 2021, announcing he would not attend the inauguration of President Joe Biden that month. Trump was soon after kicked off the platform entirely as Twitter’s leaders at the time feared he could further incite violence there, following the insurrection at the U.S. Capitol two days prior.
He moved to his own social media platform, Truth Social, created by the Trump Media & Technology Group. When billionaire Elon Musk took over Twitter, and eventually reversed the permanent ban on Trump, the former president didn’t even return to the service, sticking with Truth.
Thursday was the first time Trump has broken his silence on the social network since being reinstated. He shared his mugshot taken earlier that day with the words “NEVER SURRENDER!” and then the address for his website raising money for his presidential campaign.
Trump is being charged in Georgia with several alleged crimes, including racketeering and fraud, related to his efforts to maintain the presidency after he lost the 2020 election.
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