Former President Donald Trump returned to the social media site X with a post on Thursday showing his mug shot from his booking at Fulton County Jail. With his post appealing for donations, Trump reclaimed direct access to the public on the platform that banned him following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on Congress by his supporters.
On Nov. 19 X, formerly known as Twitter, reversed its position under billionaire Elon Musk, the self-proclaimed “free speech absolutist” who bought Twitter on Oct. 2.
Trump, who had over 88 million followers when Twitter banned him, posted a photo on Thursday of the mug shot with the words: “ELECTION INTERFERENCE! NEVER SURRENDER!” The post garnered more than 14 million views 50 minutes after going live.
Twitter permanently suspended Trump’s account in January 2021, citing the risk of further incitement of violence following the storming of the U.S. Capitol. Trump sued Twitter in 2021 over his suspension from the platform, arguing the move violated his right to freedom of speech under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
He used Twitter and other social media platforms to claim his defeat in the 2020 election was due to widespread voter fraud and to share other conspiracy theories. On Nov. 15 Trump launched a bid to regain the White House in 2024.
On Thursday evening, Trump broke from a vow that he would stick exclusively with his new platform Truth Social, the app developed by his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) startup. Trump had 6.4 million followers on Truth Social as of Thursday.
Truth Social has been Trump’s main source of direct communication with his followers since he began posting on the app regularly in May. The former president has used Truth Social to promote his allies, criticize his opponents, and defend his reputation amid legal scrutiny from state, congressional, and federal investigators.
