--- title: What Elon Musk's Purchase of Twitter Could Mean for Trump description: If Trump is allowed back on Twitter, it would reactivate one of the most powerful accounts the platform has ever hosted. canonical: https://time.com/6170560/elon-musk-twitter-trump-future/ author: Brian Bennett article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2022-04-26T03:25:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:48:54.660Z article:section: Politics og:title: What Elon Musk's Purchase of Twitter Could Mean for Trump og:description: With Musk calling for more “free speech” on Twitter, how long before Twitter unlocks Donald Trump’s account? og:url: https://time.com/6170560/elon-musk-twitter-trump-future/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt304eb1c2c41420a1/698a313a457a52743fd665d9/donald-trump-elon-musk-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2400 og:image:height: 1350 og:image:alt: Donald Trump,Elon Musk og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: What Elon Musk's Purchase of Twitter Could Mean for Trump twitter:description: With Musk calling for more “free speech” on Twitter, how long before Twitter unlocks Donald Trump’s account? twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt304eb1c2c41420a1/698a313a457a52743fd665d9/donald-trump-elon-musk-twitter.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # What Elon Musk's Purchase of Twitter Could Mean for Donald Trump's Account > Sponsored content. 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Pine looks back at the various covers featuring Donald Trump, from his first appearance in 1989 to the end of his presidency._  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Apr 26, 2022 3:25 AM UTC  Elon Musk talks with President Donald Trump after viewing the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 30, 2020. Elon Musk talks with President Donald Trump after viewing the SpaceX flight to the International Space Station, at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla. on May 30, 2020. Alex Brandon—AP  by [Brian Bennett](https://time.com/author/brian-bennett/)  ## Brian Bennett Bennett is a former senior White House correspondent at TIME. Apr 26, 2022 3:25 AM UTC Hours after [Elon Musk](https://time.com/person-of-the-year-2021-elon-musk/) bought Twitter, conservative Fox News host [Tucker Carlson](https://time.com/6080432/tucker-carlson-profile/) returned to the platform following a suspension for “hateful conduct” in tweets insisting a transgender senior Administration official was a man. When Twitter reopened Carlson’s account on Monday, the host published a simple[ tweet:](https://twitter.com/TuckerCarlson/status/1518726555253547013?s=20&t=8tqNs0UM5XhLe5F9imzNLQ) “We’re back.” With Musk [calling ](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1518677066325053441?s=20&t=YUqW0OmBYg6TMTduIp6w2g)for more “free speech” on Twitter, the next question is, how long before Twitter unlocks Donald Trump’s account as well? Twitter permanently suspended Trump two days after the Jan. 6, 2021 assault on the Capitol building over concerns that Trump’s tweets to his 88 million followers risked [“further incitement of violence.”](https://blog.twitter.com/en%5Fus/topics/company/2020/suspension) Trump had repeatedly praised his supporters who stormed the Capitol building and peddled lies that the 2020 election had been stolen and Vice President Mike Pence had the power to reverse the legitimate results. At the time, Trump was also suspended from YouTube and Facebook. When Trump was banned from Twitter, he resorted to putting out email press releases and trying to launch his own social media platform. Coinciding with his ouster from the Oval Office, Trump largely lost his unique ability to manipulate the news cycle with a single tweet. If Trump is allowed back on Twitter under Musk’s ownership, it would reactivate one of the most powerful accounts the platform has ever hosted. He’d have more ability to dominate the news again, mobilize his followers and detractors alike, and exert significant influence over the midterms and 2024 presidential election—whether or not he runs himself. For his part, Trump told [Fox News](https://www.foxnews.com/politics/trump-will-not-return-to-twitter-even-if-elon-musk-purchases-platform-will-begin-using-his-truth-social) he didn’t want to get back on Twitter and instead he would be putting out messages on his beleaguered social media platform, TRUTH Social. “I am not going on Twitter, I am going to stay on TRUTH,” Trump told Fox News after Twitter took Musk’s $44 billion leveraged buyout offer to take Twitter private. But Trump may not stick to that promise given the [challenges ](https://time.com/6147016/trump-truth-social-challenges/)TRUTH Social has had building an audience—and given the power he once wielded on Twitter. **Read More:** [_Why Elon Musk’s Plans to ‘Fix’ Twitter Will Be Harder to Implement Than He Thinks_](https://time.com/6170494/elon-musk-fix-twitter-plans/) As President, Trump used his Twitter account to stoke division, spread misinformation, insult rivals, inform his own government of policy decisions he’d made, pressure prosecutors to punish his political enemies, and berate judges who ruled against his allies. No single person has had as much impact on a social media platform as when Trump was on Twitter, says Leysia Palen, an information science professor at the University of Colorado Boulder. Palen has worked with a team of researchers to study how Trump used Twitter and track the way his tweets would reverberate and touch nearly every way information was consumed on the Internet. Whenever Trump tweeted, he would “thrash” the online discussion around whatever topic he was weighing into, Palen says, because of his large number of followers and the frequency with which he was tweeting. When Trump tweets, “it makes the information world we are leaning on even more unreliable, even more erratic,” Palen says. A Trump Twitter effect could potentially also be seen in upcoming elections, experts say. Unlike other platforms, Twitter gave Trump access to a large part of his base at “any moment, any time, day or night,” says Kathleen Hall Jamieson, director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center at the University of Pennsylvania. If Twitter decides to restore Trump’s full account and his list of followers, Trump would have immediate access to large numbers of people who have already identified themselves as interested in him. That’s very valuable political communications real estate, Jamieson says. “If he wants to intervene on behalf of a candidate he has now endorsed in the midterm elections, being able to reach that number of people with messages supporting those candidates is a way of essentially getting free advertising time to reach people who are more likely to vote as a result of getting a signal from Donald Trump,” Jamieson says. Returning to Twitter could help Trump reconnect with his base, but others argue there could also be a backlash: Trump could further mobilize those who disagree with him. Trump being on Twitter may be a “a gift” for President Joe Biden, “because when Donald Trump tweets, he’s saying things that alienate a lot of people,” says Lauren Wright, a political scientist at Princeton University. Wright says going back on Twitter would give Trump another megaphone, but given how well known he already is, it may bring him only a marginal benefit and could spark more blowback. “He’s continued to say these things that the majority of the American public don’t agree with, so that may not be good for his political support,” she says. Since being kicked off Twitter, Trump’s turned to press releases and rallies to get his message out. He’s blasted investigators looking into his financial dealings and promoted the candidacies of politicians who are willing to parrot his lies about voter fraud costing him the election. He’s also used his presidential title to promote his properties and applauded himself for a hole-in-one on the golf course. Those could be more signs of what may come if Trump decides to tweet again. ## Transcript I happened been on their cover like 14 or 15 times. I think we have the all time record in the history of Time magazine. Donald Trump has always had a fascination with time. He first landed on the cover on January 16th, 1989, 28 years before his inauguration, since before his election. Trump has regularly campaigned to be named Time's Person of the Year using rallies and his Twitter feed to comment on Time's choices. They should have picked me for the Person of the Year, but they didn't know. They said. And perhaps most notably, fake time travelers were designed to hang in his golf course clubhouses. Time has a long history of featuring presidents on the cover, and Trump has been no exception. Eight of the top ten people to appear most often on Time's cover are U.S. presidents. Trump finished his term with 35 covers, the fourth most of any president behind Richard Nixon's 55 covers. Ronald Reagan with 46 and Bill Clinton with 40. Rounding out the top ten are George W Bush with 32. Barack Obama 31. Jimmy Carter 27. Jesus 22. And Hillary Clinton and George H.W. Bush tied at 21. We first introduced candidate Trump to Time's readers in August of 2015, when photographer Martin Schaller and Time editor at large Paul Moakley brought a live bald eagle to the Trump Tower in New York City for a portrait. This symbol of democracy was particularly animated during the photo and video session, even angrily nipping at the president's hand during the 2016 campaign. We produced seven covers featuring Trump and created an original visual language for this president with the artwork of artist Adele Rodriguez. Rodriguez, who worked as Time's international art director in the 1990s as a strong, simple, graphic style that immediately grabbed worldwide recognition with the meltdown cover, a reflection of his slumping campaign following the Republican National Convention. Two months later, in response to the release of the infamous Access Hollywood tape, Rodriguez followed with an updated image with the headline Total Meltdown. Of course, TIME reports many different topics, and the visual approaches on the cover reinforces that variety. We have presented President Trump as a frenetic Twitter user, crumbling at the Washington Monument, a punching bag, a graphic wrecking ball, an angry character with his hair on fire, a cross between himself and Vladimir Putin, a king looking into a cover, a slingshot holding fighter, dueling with Nancy Pelosi, a happy president, whistling under an umbrella in the rain, and a man who has painted himself into a corner. We've also photographed Trump for multiple covers, including a White House tour for our May 22nd, 2017 cover and an Oval Office conversation in the summer of 2019 on Trump's plan to keep the White House. My favorite time cover of Trump is nothing to See Here from February 27, 2017. I believe the strongest time covers leave space for a variety of perspectives for this cover. If you're an opponent of President Trump, you look at the cover and you see all the chaos that this man has created. And if you're a supporter of the president, you look at it and say, even among all the chaos in Washington, look how resolute he is sitting behind that desk. That is a great place for a time cover to be. That image was created by longtime Time collaborator Tim O'Brien, who has painted more covers in the past 30 years than any other artist. It was the first of what would become a series of four paintings from O'Brien depicting Trump in a growing storm within the Oval Office. Our Trump covers have certainly not been without debate. An image we created of Trump staring down at a young immigrant girl for our Welcome to America cover sparked controversy. During the campaign, Trump frequently used the cover, proclaiming how Trump won as a selling point on the campaign trail. On numerous occasions, the president also tweeted out a fake time cover animation of how Trumpism outlasts Trump. A cover from October 22nd, 2018. But for most of the past year, the president's image on the cover took a backseat to front line workers. Racial injustice, protests and the rising COVID numbers. And even though the image of Trump wasn't physically shown on two recent covers, his influence was still present. While Trump's presidency has come to a close, it's certainly possible that we haven't seen the last of him. 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