Twitter reactivates Trump's account

The Twitter account of Donald Trump, permanently suspended after he encouraged the January 6 Capitol Hill riot following his defeat in the 2020 election, was restored Saturday evening. As yet, there's no sign of new activity.

The restoration was engineered by Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, who had earlier said that Twitter would establish a committee to review suspensions—but who yesterday posted an online poll instead for Trump's return. He washed his hands of it after 24 hours: "The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei."1

Musk has reason to encourage the return of Trump, who now has his own Twitter-clone social media platform: Twitter's sharp decline in revenue since Musk bought it, caused by departing advertisers alarmed by the increase in platform abuse. Whatever plans he has for the site, he must keep it in the public eye while bashing it into whatever shape he imagines for its future—and Trump posting again would help meet both goals.

1. "Nec audiendi qui solent dicere, Vox populi, vox Dei, quum tumultuositas vulgi semper insaniae proxima sit." — Alcuin of York. In English: "Ignore those who say the voice of the people is the voice of God, because the mob is always close to madness."