Trump confirms efforts to return to Facebook, says ban was ‘major business mistake’

Former President Trump shared his efforts to return to social media platform Facebook, saying in an interview that his ban from the social media platform was a “major business mistake.” 

Trump confirmed his latest push in an interview with Fox News published Wednesday, claiming that the social media platform, owned by Meta, lost $700 billion since he was banned. 

“If they took us back, it would help them greatly, and that’s okay with me,” Trump told Fox News. “But they need us more than we need them.”

Trump also told the media outlet that various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram made a “major business mistake” by banning him. 

Trump was banned from Twitter and Facebook a day after the Jan 6., 2021, attack on the Capitol, where a mob of his supporters stormed the building in an effort to stop the certification of the 2020 election results. Before his suspension, Trump and officials in his administration had been spreading misinformation about the 2020 election results, alleging the election had been stolen from the former president. 

“It has been considered a major business mistake for them, Twitter, and others,” Trump added.

This comes as Trump’s campaign team sent Meta a letter on Tuesday asking the company to unlock Trump’s Facebook account as he pursues another bid for the White House. 

Trump, who faces a slew of legal battles and federal investigations against him and his company, announced his third bid to run for president at his Mar-a-Lago estate in November. 

“We believe that the ban on President Trump’s account on Facebook has dramatically distorted and inhibited the public discourse,” Trump’s campaign team wrote in its letter. 

Twitter, under the leadership of new CEO Elon Musk, reinstated Trump’s account in November after a nearly two-year ban from the platform.

Since the ban, Trump has created his own social media platform, Truth Social, where he has amassed around 4.8 million followers.