Donald Trump's account is back on Twitter after Musk poll

Donald Trump's once-blocked Twitter account has reappeared on the platform, minutes after company owner Elon Musk announced he was lifting the 22-month suspension on the former president over incitement of violence.

Trump's account -- dormant since days after the January 6, 2021 riot at the US Capitol by his supporters -- was visible to users after Musk tweeted that "Trump will be reinstated" following a poll on the subject.

More than 15 million people voted in the poll asking whether Trump's account should be reinstated, with a narrow majority of 51.8 percent voting in the affirmative.

READ MORE: US judge rejects Trump's lawsuit challenging his Twitter suspension

No reason to return

Trump had appeared less than keen earlier in the day.

"I don't see any reason for it," the former president said via video when asked whether he planned to return to Twitter by a panel at the Republican Jewish Coalition's annual leadership meeting.

He said he would stick with his new platform Truth Social, the app developed by his Trump Media & Technology Group (TMTG) startup, which he said had better user engagement than Twitter and was doing "phenomenally well".

Trump, who on Tuesday launched a bid to regain the White House in 2024, praised Musk and said he had always liked him. But Trump also said Twitter suffered from bots, fake accounts and that the problems it faced were "incredible".

Musk first said in May he planned to reverse the ban on Trump, and the timing of any return by Trump was closely watched -- and feared -- by many of Twitter's advertisers.

The billionaire has since sought to reassure users and advertisers that such a decision would be made with consideration by a content moderation council composed of people with "widely diverse viewpoints" and no account reinstatements would happen before the council convened.

He also said Twitter would not reinstate any banned users until there was a "clear process for doing so."

But this week, Musk reinstated comedian Kathy Griffin, who had been banned for changing her profile name to "Elon Musk" which violated his new rule against impersonation without indicating it was a parody account. 

There has been no new information about process or the moderation council.

A no-show by Trump could reduce concerns among major advertisers, who are already rattled by Musk's drastic reshaping of Twitter.

He has halved the workforce and severely cut the company's trust and safety team, which is responsible for preventing the spread of misinformation and harmful content.

These actions and Musk's tweeting have pushed major companies to halt advertising on the site as they monitor how the platform handles hate speech.

READ MORE: Musk's 'hardcore' ultimatum ignites Twitter exodus