There was once a time when a visit to Twitter (now X) rarely didn’t include seeing something about a tweet from Donald Trump. These days, the former president fills his social media needs primarily on Truth Social.
Trump Media & Technology Group launched the app in 2022, after he was banned by the former heads of Twitter due to posts regarding the Jan. 6, 2021 Capitol riot. By last summer, he was trying to get Elon Musk to buy it, according to a report from The Washington Post. It cited “two people with knowledge of the conversation.”
Musk – currently the second richest man in the world, per Forbes – didn’t like that Trump’s account was suspended. This, and his overall irritation with Twitter, contributed to his purchase of the company in October 2022 for $44 billion. He then rebranded the company as “X” last summer, around the time Trump asked him to take on Truth Social.
Though Musk did reinstate Trump’s Twitter account, Trump has only posted once since. Sources told The Washington Post that he hasn’t posted there because he wants to maintain Truth Social’s value.
In addition to X, Musk has a business empire that includes electric car company Tesla and space exploration company SpaceX. With his purchase of Twitter, he made other controversial changes, including making account verification a paid service.
“He has relentlessly tried to promote it, telling his advisers that he wants to break news on the platform partially to bring in more users,” it said.
While Musk has maintained a steady spot at the top of the billionaire’s list, Trump is facing financial difficulties due to his myriad of legal issues as he campaigns to be the GOP candidate for president. Just last week, he posted a bond over $91 million in the E. Jean Carroll defamation case. There are other potential payouts looming, and Trump’s media company has also been “trapped in a long-delayed merger process,” said The Washington Post.
Trump said in a previous financial disclosure filing for his presidential candidacy that his 90% stake in Trump Media was worth between $5 million and $25 million and that his income from it had been less than $200.
“But in the past month, the SEC greenlit Digital World’s merger registration, setting the stage for Trump Media to become a public company potentially worth billions of dollars,” said The Washington Post. “That change could offer Trump a financial lifeline as he faces hundreds of millions of dollars in legal penalties. Shareholders are expected to officially approve the merger during a vote later this month, but a lockup provision of the deal would require Trump to wait six months before selling any shares.”
Trump Media spokeswoman Shannon Devine did not confirm that Trump and Musk discussed the latter purchasing Truth Social. A spokesman for Trump’s campaign did not comment, the outlet added.
Reports from last week indicate that Trump recently asked Musk for help to fund his 2024 campaign. Musk took to X to say he would not back “either” presidential candidate (referencing President Joe Biden) after the reports came out.
According to The Washington Post, the conversation regarding Truth Social from last summer reveals that “the two men have communicated more than was known,” and Trump advisers said the former president and Musk have had conversations about politics and business.
“When The Washington Post asked Musk about the Truth Social call and his other talks with Trump, Musk responded only that he had ‘never been to Mar-a-Lago,’ Trump’s estate in Palm Beach,” said the outlet. It also noted that Musk has criticized Trump’s social media company, posting that it had a terrible name. Trump responded with his own snarky reply on Truth Social with this caption.
At the same time, Musk has increasingly been embracing some right-wing issues favored by Trump. For example, he posted to X about voter IDs Tuesday, saying “Failure to require photo ID to vote obviously makes it impossible to prove voter fraud. That is why the far left refuses to require photo ID to vote.”