Trump posts on X, formerly Twitter, for first time since 2021

Former president Donald Trump has posted his police mugshot on X, formerly Twitter, after his arrest in Georgia, his first post on the platform since January 2021.

The message signals the return of Trump to what had been his favourite bullhorn.

It was his first post since several days after the insurrection at the US Capitol that saw an enraged mob of his supporters attempt to block Joe Biden's certification as president.

The then-Twitter permanently suspended Trump after the January 6 riot, ruling he had violated the platform's policy on glorifying violence as he pressed his claims that the election was stolen from him.

Elon Musk, who bought the platform last year, reinstated the former president in November 2022, but Trump stayed away, choosing to reach his followers on his own platform, Truth Social, albeit with a much smaller audience.

His Thursday post features the mugshot – Trump scowling at the camera as he posed in Fulton County jail – and has a link to his 2024 presidential campaign.

Above the photo are the words "MUG SHOT -- AUGUST 24, 2023." Below it are the phrases "ELECTION INTERFERENCE" and "NEVER SURRENDER."

Back on social media

Trump had 6.4 million followers on Truth Social as of Thursday.

On X, he has over 86 million followers.

Trump returned to Facebook in March, posting, “I’M BACK!” weeks after his personal account there was reactivated.

As part of his deal with Digital World Acquisition Corp. to take Truth Social public, Trump had agreed — so he wouldn’t compete against his own company — that it would be the "first channel" for "any and all social media communications and posts coming from his personal profile," according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.

That included an exclusivity clause in which the former president was "generally obligated to make any social media post on Truth Social and may not make the same post on another social media site for 6 hours" for a period of 18 months, beginning December 22, 2021.

That period ended in June.