Anika Begay
In the hours leading up to the X Spaces conversation, that appeared to be the case: Trump had made 10 posts on X, his first posts on the platform since August 2023 and his first sustained period of activity since he was famously banned from the platform for his role in spreading election conspiracies before the January 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
But Trump, who remained online for hours after the event, instead returned to Truth Social, the platform he created after being kicked out of X. He shared more than a dozen updates, or “truths,” encouraging followers to vote in the Minnesota and Wisconsin primaries for candidates he was supporting.
On Tuesday morning, around 1:20 a.m., hours after the event concluded, Trump finally posted a link on Truth Social to a recording of his conversation with Musk. But instead of a direct link to the recording on X, Trump posted a link to a recording of the event on his YouTube channel. Trump later posted another link to the conversation, this time to a recording on the video-sharing site Rumble.
While Trump has a much larger following on X than he does on Truth Social (90 million versus 7.5 million), there are other considerations to take into account.
Trump owns a 60 percent stake in Trump Media & Technology Group, which owns Truth Social. As part of his deal with the company, he is required to post on Truth Social before posting on any other platform, with exceptions for political and campaign content.
TMTG’s stock price also fell on Monday after Trump began posting about X, which could be another factor for Trump to consider, given that he will have to wait until Sept. 19, when a six-month lockup period expires, before he can sell his shares in the company.
Musk knows that keeping Trump happy and on his platform is likely the key to reinvigorating X. But at the end of the day, Musk is still thinking about himself: During Monday’s conversation, shortly after agreeing with Trump’s positions on electric vehicles and oil drilling in the U.S. that would appear to directly contradict Musk’s business interests, Musk suggested that he would take a role in a potential second Trump administration in a “government efficiency body.”
“I would love to,” Trump responded.
