Controversial former United States President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he will not return to Twitter, which had banned him last January in the wake of the US Capitol Riots, wven if Elon Musk, the company's future owner, reversed the ban.

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“No, I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump told CNBC in an interview.

“I will be on Truth Social within the week. It's on schedule. We have a lot of people signed up. I like Elon Musk. I like him a lot. He’s an excellent individual. We did a lot for Twitter when I was in the White House. I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter,” he said.

The San Francisco based company had permanently suspended Trump's 88 million-follower account in January last year, citing the possibility of additional violence in the wake of the former president's supporters storming the Capitol.

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After nearly a month of back-and-forth, Twitter has accepted Tesla chief Elon Musk’s acquisition offer. The social networking platform has a market capitalization of $44 billion.

Musk expressed his interest in owning the firm in part to make it a platform for free speech, which raised questions about whether Trump would be allowed back on the platform.

“It’s just really important that people have, both the reality and the perception that they are able to speak freely within the bounds of the law,” Musk stated during a recent TED talk. Musk also said that he opposes permanent bans and prefers suspensions.

The CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has frequently used Twitter to crack jokes and promote his commercial interests, ranging from his companies to cryptocurrency he's interested in.

Also read: Donald Trump's social media app launches year after Twitter ban

(Edited by : Anand Singha)