A Timeline of the Elon Musk-Donald Trump Twitter Saga

Getty (2) Elon Musk, Donald Trump

Elon Musk has generated daily headlines since his acquisition of Twitter, raising eyebrows for both his management style and his public courtship with conspiracy theories and right-wing media personalities — chief among them, former President Donald Trump, whom the Tesla co-founder welcomed back to the social media site over the weekend.

Since having his Twitter account reinstated, the former president has yet to publish any new tweets — which Musk has insinuated via graphic memes has been in spite of Trump's own worst impulses.

But as Musk tries to win Trump back after the two sparred on social media earlier this year, critics say the tech titan's move is little more than a desperate attempt to keep Twitter alive as it hemorrhages advertisers — and money.

Here's a look at how the relationship between Musk, Trump and Twitter has played out.

January 2021: Trump's Twitter Account Is Locked After Capitol Riots

Samuel Corum/Getty The attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021

Trump's account was first locked for 12 hours on Jan. 6, 2021, just hours after the riots began, when the platform announced it would remove three of the then-president's tweets "for repeated and severe violations of our Civic Integrity policy."

At the time, the company warned further violations of its policies would "result in permanent suspension of the @realDonaldTrump account."

The company followed through days later, announcing: "After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence."

In a company blog post, Twitter cited two of Trump's tweets — which included a declaration that he would not be attending Biden's inauguration on Jan. 20 — as a "violation of the Glorification of Violence Policy."

According to Twitter, the statement could be "received by a number of his supporters as further confirmation that the election was not legitimate and is seen as him disavowing his previous claim made via two Tweets ... by his Deputy Chief of Staff, Dan Scavino, that there would be an 'orderly transition' on January 20th."

The company argued that Trump's use of the phrase "American Patriots" in another tweet was "also being interpreted as support for those committing violent acts at the US Capitol."

May 2022: Musk Says He Would Reinstate Trump's Twitter Account if He Acquired the Platform

Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Elon Musk

As Musk's $44 billion dollar Twitter deal teetered near collapse (Musk backed out of the deal before later agreeing again to purchase the platform) he said that if his deal to acquire the social-media platform went through as planned, he would reverse the permanent ban against Trump that was put in place following the riots at the U.S. Capitol.

"Permanent bans should be extremely rare and really reserved for accounts that are bots, or scam, spam accounts … I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump," Musk said at FT Live's Future of the Car conference, according to a CNBC report. "I think that was a mistake, because it alienated a large part of the country and did not ultimately result in Donald Trump not having a voice."

RELATED: Elon Musk Says He Would Lift Twitter Ban on Donald Trump: 'I Think That Was a Mistake'

July 2022: Musk Tells Trump to 'Sail Into the Sunset'

In July, Musk made headlines when he implored Trump to "sail into the sunset" after Trump, at a political rally in Alaska, called Musk a 'bulls--- artist."

Trump's comments came after Musk said he had only recently voted for a Republican for the first time.

"He said the other day, 'Oh, I've never voted for a Republican.' I said, 'I didn't know that,'" Trump said of Musk. "He told me he voted for me, so he's another bull---- artist."

Responding to those comments, Musk took to Twitter to write: "I don't hate the man, but it's time for Trump to hang up his hat & sail into the sunset. Dems should also call off the attack – don't make it so that Trump's only way to survive is to regain the Presidency."

July 2022: Trump Fires Back

Brandon Bell/Getty Donald Trump

Trump soon fired back, writing on his own social media site Truth Social: "When Elon Musk came to the White House asking me for help on all of his many subsidized projects, whether it's electric cars that don't drive long enough, driverless cars that crash, or rocketships to nowhere, without which subsidies he'd be worthless, and telling me how he was a big Trump fan and Republican, I could have said, 'drop to your knees and beg,' and he would have done it."

Trump continued: "Now Elon should focus on getting himself out of the Twitter mess because he could owe $44 billion for something that's perhaps worthless," a nod to the price Musk paid for the social media site.

Nov. 2022: Musk Asks Followers to Vote on Bringing Trump Back to Twitter

Just weeks after Musk's acquisition of Twitter became official, the new CEO asked his followers to weigh in on whether Trump should be allowed back on the platform.

The poll, published Saturday, saw 51.8% of respondents vote "yes" — a number that some have suggested could have included bots.

Trump implored his own followers to vote affirmatively in the poll, linking to Musk's tweet on Truth Social and writing, "Vote now with positivity, but don't worry, we aren't going anywhere. Truth Social is special!"

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Following the poll, Trump's account was reinstated.

"The people have spoken. Trump will be reinstated. Vox Populi, Vox Dei," Musk tweeted. (The Latin phrase at the end has been used in history as an expression of democratic ideals, meaning, "The voice of the people is the voice of God.")

Trump's account was live shortly thereafter, but the president has yet to publish any tweets, choosing instead to continue communicating from his own social platform, Truth Social.

As the Associated Press reports, Musk had previously said Twitter would only restore suspended accounts after establishing a "content moderation council."

RELATED: When Will Donald Trump Return to Twitter? Not for 'At Least' a Few Weeks, Says Elon Musk

Trump is among a number of controversial figures to see their accounts reinstated since Musk has acquired the platform. Kanye West, who previously tweeted he would go "defcon 3" on Jewish people and made a number of other antisemitic comments, was also recently welcomed back to Twitter after his account had been limited, in addition to controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.

And while Musk has wielded his power in welcoming Trump back to the platform, it's the former president who has suggested he has the upper hand.

"I hear we're getting a big vote to also go back on Twitter. I don't see it because I don't see any reason for it," Trump said at a rally on Saturday. "[The company] may make it, it may not make it."

Some legal experts have suggested that Trump would put himself at risk of a securities fraud lawsuit if he begins using Twitter again, because it could be perceived by Truth Social shareholders as an intentional devaluation of his new social media site. With that information, it makes even more sense that the former president would remain silent on Musk's platform.