Elon Musk says he would reverse Twitter's ban of Donald Trump

Elon Musk said he will reverse Twitter's permanent ban of former President Donald Trump if the Tesla CEO follows through with his plan to buy the social media company.

Musk, speaking virtually at a Future of the Car summit hosted by the Financial Times, said Twitter's Trump ban was "a morally bad decision and foolish in the extreme". He said permanent bans of Twitter accounts should be rare and reserved for accounts that are scams or automated bots.

Twitter banned Trump's account in January 2021 for incitement of violence following the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol.

Trump had previously said that he had no intention of rejoining Twitter even if his account was reinstated, telling Fox News last month that he would instead focus on his own platform, Truth Social, which has been mired in problems since its launch earlier this year.

"I am not going on Twitter. I am going to stay on Truth, Trump told the network. I hope Elon buys Twitter because he'll make improvements to it and he is a good man, but I am going to be staying on Truth."

A Trump spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment in response to Musk's remarks.