Donald Trump has tried to insist that he still prefers his own social media platform after posting on Twitter, now called X, for the first time since January 2021.
“I LOVE TRUTH SOCIAL. IT IS MY HOME!!!” Mr Trump wrote on Truth Social on Thursday night.
The former president’s brief all-caps post came after he made a sudden return to X, now owned by Elon Musk, to share his mug shot from his surrender at Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia, on charges related to his efforts to subvert the 2020 election results in the state.
In his first in tweet two and a half years, Mr Trump included an image of his booking photo as he repeated his claims of “election interference” and urged his supporters to “never surrender!”
Mr Trump included a link to his 2024 re-election site, where a message stated: “Today, at the notoriously violent jail in Fulton County, Georgia, I was ARRESTED despite having committed NO CRIME.”
“The American people know what’s going on,” he added. “What has taken place is a travesty of justice and ELECTION INTERFERENCE.
“The Left wants to intimidate YOU out of voting for a political outsider who puts the American people FIRST,” Mr Trump said, as he continued to use his arrest to ask for money from his supporters.
“But today, I walked into the lion’s den with one simple message on behalf of our entire movement: I WILL NEVER SURRENDER OUR MISSION TO SAVE AMERICA,” he added.
“If you are doing poorly due to the sinister people in control of our country right now, don’t even think about donating! But if you can, please make a contribution to evict Crooked Joe Biden from the White House and SAVE AMERICA during this dark chapter in our nation’s history.”
Mr Trump’s PAC Save America has spent about $40m on legal costs to defend Mr Trump and his associates amid their mounting legal woes, The Washington Post reported last month.
The PAC disclosed about $20m of legal spending in the first six months of this year in an FEC report. The $40m figure covers a longer time span going back to 2021 when Mr Trump left the White House following the Capitol Riot and his attempts to prevent President Joe Biden from taking office.
Mr Musk reacted to Mr Trump’s return to X, simply writing “next-level”.
Several other social media users also commented on his return, with William LeGate writing that “Trump just broke his contract with Truth Social investors… he’s not allowed to post on Twitter/X”.
Rightwing commentator Candace Owens asked: “Can everybody admit that Donald Trump and Twitter just go together?”
Rick Wilson, a former Republican strategist, chimed in: “Welcome back, b****.”
