According to a poll by Elon Musk, Twitter has reactivated former US President Donald Trump’s account, which had been blocked since early 2021. Shortly after announcing his candidacy for president, the Republican regained access to a large online platform, but this hurt its acquisition of SPAC Digital World.
Musk tweeted a 24-hour poll of service users on Friday to vote on whether Trump’s profile should be reinstated. A few minutes after the announcement of the result – a narrow majority had voted for the end of the ban – the profile of Trump returned.
Trump’s account, which once had more than 80 million Twitter followers, was initially reset to zero subscribers. Shortly after its activation, the “@realDonaldTrump” profile was followed by over a million Twitter users. A few hours later it was about 83 million.
Trump SPAC under massive pressure
Trump recently had an estimated 4.6 million subscribers to his copy of Twitter Truth Social and has repeatedly said that he does not want to return to Twitter at all. After the account was reinstated, Trump initially did not comment on his further course of action. Now, however, he has pledged in the documents accompanying his media group’s IPO that he will initially conduct most of his social media communications through Truth Social, with a six-hour exclusivity period.
Shares of SPAC Digital World Acquisition are likely to continue losing. DWAC’s stock has been under pressure since Musk announced his plans to acquire Twitter earlier this year. Since its peak in early March, the SPAC is down 78%.
Benefits for Trump and Musk
However, he could use a broader, broader platform ahead of the Republican nomination for the upcoming presidential election. The 76-year-old, who had long dominated the party and marginalized critics, has recently lost influence within his own ranks.
Musk also has issues that a Trump comeback could help with. Ad revenue plummeted after Twitter’s $44 billion takeover. Because companies fear that, given Musk’s promise of free speech, advertising for their brands could end up alongside offensive tweets. The chaotic introduction of a new subscription system has been halted after uproar over seemingly real accounts of brands and celebrities.
Digital World Acquisition Corp
(WKN: A3CYXD)
With material from dpaAFX.
