Trump’s First Tweet Since Leaving Office: His Mugshot

Donald Trump returned to X, formerly known as Twitter, for the first time since January 2021 to post what is surely to become the defining image of his political career — his mugshot.

The former president surrendered to authorities in Fulton County Georgia on Thursday to be booked on charges related to his and 18 of his allies’ efforts to meddle with the results of the 2020 election in the state.

After the Jan. 6 riots at the Captiol, Twitter suspended Trump’s account to ” further incitement of violence.” Prior to the ban, the former president used Twitter as his personal pulpit to bully rivals as he rose to political prominence and through is presidency.

After posting the mugshot to Truth Social on Thursday, Trump double downed on X and revived his  @realdonaldtrump handle, which had been inactive for more than two years.

The post’s text contained a link to Trump’s campaign website, and included a photo with the mugshot, the date it was taken, and the caption “ELECTION INTERFERENCE, NEVER SURRENDER.”

Following the initial post on X, the former president’s campaign appeared to follow up by peddling t-shirts branded by his mugshot, which were advertised as “free” in exchange for $47.

Donald Trump Jr. offered color options of his father’s mugshot, posting on X a link to his website hawking similar shirts in black, along with posters, and mugs. Trump Jr. assured the public that “all profits from this on my Web Store are going to be donated to the Legal Defense Fund to fight the tyranny & insanity we’re seeing before us.”

He added, “Unlike many, I won’t try to profit from this but will do what I can to help,” and was likely not referring to the time Trump scammed his supporters out of $250 million for a nonexistent fraud fund.

In January, Rolling Stone reported that the ex-president was looking to ditch his own social media site and planning his first tweets as the exclusivity term in his Truth Social contract was set to expire.

After Trump was “permanently” banned from Twitter in 2021, he was reinstated in November of last year after billionaire Elon Musk purchased the platform.

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