indictment in Georgia
Trump returns to former Twitter with unprecedented mugshot
Historic mughsot as the first post in more than two years: Donald Trump’s account on X, formerly Twitter
© Chris Delmas / AFP
Donald Trump reported back to Twitter successor X with a bang. After a long ban and later abstinence, the ex-president posted the historic police photo that had been taken of him shortly before.
Elon Musk unblocked Trump’s account
Trump was banned from major online platforms towards the end of his term after his supporters stormed the US House of Representatives in Washington on January 6, 2021. Before the unprecedented outbreak of violence, he had goaded his supporters with the unfounded claim that he had been cheated out of the 2020 presidential election. In his online messages before and after the Capitol attack, he openly showed sympathy for the rioters. The platform operators therefore feared that there could be new violence if Trump was not banned – and blocked his accounts.
Trump has since regained access to all major online services, where he still has millions of followers. And he reported back on several channels. However, he has remained silent on the Twitter platform, which has recently been renamed X. Instead, he helped set up a Twitter copy, the Truth Social platform.
Former US President Donald Trump during identification at the Fulton County Jail in Atlanta, Georgia
© Uncredited / Fulton County Sheriff’s Office / AP / DPA
His account was on Twitter last fall at the behest of the new owner Elon Musk has been unlocked again. However, the last tweet there so far was still from January 2021. Before and during his tenure in the White House, Twitter was Trump’s most important mouthpiece, where he had more than 80 million followers before the ban and achieved worldwide attention with his messages.
Trump has 86 million followers on X
Trump wants to run as a Republican candidate in the 2024 presidential election and has to win the party’s internal primaries to do so. More online reach would be convenient for him. He has a good six million subscribers to Truth Social, 34 million to Facebook and more than 86 million to X.
Ex-US President under pressure
Donald Trump has these legal problems on his hands
There he reports back with a bang: with the memorable police photo that the authorities in Atlanta made public shortly before. Trump is the first ex-president to have been charged with a crime and subsequently had a mugshot taken of himself. The picture should therefore go down in history.
Trump rejects all allegations against himself and sees the criminal prosecution as an attempt by his political opponents to prevent him from returning to the White House. Trump had been charged with 18 other suspects over his attempts to influence the outcome of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Prosecutors had given the Republican and the other defendants until this Friday to make a voluntary appearance to the authorities in Atlanta.
Various defendants in the case had already appeared at the Atlanta County Jail on Tuesday and Wednesday, where their personal details were taken and police pictures were taken. On Thursday evening (local time), Trump followed to endure the formal procedure that follows an indictment. However, unlike the authorities in the other criminal proceedings against Trump in New York, Miami and Washington, the authorities in Atlanta did not grant him any exemptions.