Former President Donald Trump is petitioning Meta to restore his Facebook account.
The Trump campaign reportedly sent a letter to the company on Tuesday, pushing for a meeting to discuss his "prompt reinstatement to the platform."
"We are talking to them, and we'll see how it all works out," Trump told Fox News Digital.
The company banned Trump in 2021 following the January 6th Capitol riot and said it would revisit the suspension after two years and "evaluate" the "risk to public safety" to determine if Trump should get his account back.
Trump told the outlet that Facebook has "lost $700 billion" since he was "de-platformed."
"It has been considered a major business mistake for them, Twitter, and others," he said. "If they took us back, it would help them greatly, and that's okay with me. But they need us more than we need them."
However, campaign spokesman Steven Cheung said Trump's return to the platform is critical as an outreach tool to energize voters and for fundraising.
"Free speech is an essential part of democracy and President Trump must be allowed to speak directly to the American people so they can be informed about his vision as they cast their ballots," Cheung told Fox News Digital. "Being back on the platform will be an important tool for the 2024 campaign to reach voters through advertising, grassroots mobilization and fundraising, like all other candidates are able to do."
Trump campaign general counsel Scott Gast reiterated that point in the letter sent to Meta, saying a continued ban would essentially constitute "a deliberate effort by a private company to silence Mr. Trump’s political voice."
"The ban on President Trump's account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse," the letter says. "Moreover, every day that President Trump's political voice remains silenced furthers an inappropriate interference in the American political and election process."
Gast added that "Meta should be encouraging a full and robust dialogue, not silencing presidential candidates."
Meta says it will announce a decision "in the coming weeks." If Trump's account is reinstated, it will be monitored with great scrutiny.
"When the suspension is eventually lifted, Mr. Trump's account will be subject to new enhanced penalties if he violates our policies, up to and including permanent removal of his accounts," the company told Fox News Digital.
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