Donald Trump returned to X and Elon Musk greeted him with open arms

Donald Trump returned to X in a big way on Monday.

On Monday morning, at 11:19 a.m. Eastern time, Trump tweeted for the first time in nearly a year. It was a two-and-a-half-minute campaign ad. In the following hours, Trump tweeted several more times.

But the big bang was an interview with X owner Elon Musk on Monday night. Although, let’s be clear, it wasn’t really an “interview.” It was Musk teeing up Trump to say pretty much whatever he wanted. It was a campaign speech in the form of an overly friendly conversation between Trump and a fawning man who has endorsed Trump for president.

But before it even got underway, there were major issues. Conjuring up embarrassing memories from Ron DeSantis’ disastrous presidential rollout on X back in May, the Trump interview was delayed because of technical glitches.

It finally got underway at 8:42 p.m., some 42 minutes after it was supposed to start. Musk blamed it on a “massive” cyberattack on X and suggested it was because some want to silence Trump’s voice.

Once it began, it quickly turned into what you would expect — a softball conversation. Not that we should have expected anything other than that. Musk, after all, is not a journalist and, furthermore, clearly had no desire to push Trump on anything substantive. He simply said, “Yeah, yeah,” after pretty much everything Trump said, no matter what Trump said.

If you’re interested in what they discussed, you can surely find it online.

But let’s talk about Trump and Musk and X.

Trump has had a complicated relationship with X over the years. He used to tweet incessantly when he was the president. With more than 80 million followers, Trump would use the social media platform to tweet dozens of times a day. Sometimes he would make official announcements via the company then called Twitter, while other times he used it as a personal complaint box to trash his various enemies and air his ever-growing list of grievances.

But his use of Twitter came to a crashing halt when his account was suspended following the Jan. 6, 2021, insurrection for violating the company’s rules and the risk of inciting more violence. His ban lasted until November 2022 when new owner Musk lifted it after taking a poll of Twitter users.

However, Trump has rarely, if ever, tweeted since then.

So what happened? Why does it appear that Trump is now back on X?

Attention. Lots and lots of attention.

With presidential opponent Kamala Harris dominating the media landscape over the past several weeks, Trump has been left on the sidelines, well out of the spotlight — something he is not accustomed to, and something he clearly does not like.

The return, especially Monday night’s conversation with Musk, put his voice in front of an audience that he hasn’t seen since the Republican National Convention in mid-July. Trump still has his Truth Social, but that’s nothing compared to X. He has less than 8 million followers on Truth Social. He has 10 times that many on X.

This also might help more than just Trump. It could be a big bump for X.

The New York Times’ Kate Conger wrote, “Mr. Trump’s return to X after nearly a year of silence could provide a needed boost to the platform, which has faced increased competition from a rash of new social media platforms, including the former president’s Truth Social. X has also struggled to overcome skepticism from advertisers, especially after Mr. Musk sued an influential advertising coalition last week.”

Musk is hoping Trump’s return sends a jolt into X, which Musk has used to express his personal politics, including endorsing Trump for president.

In another story for the Times, Conger wrote, “Mr. Musk, now more than ever, is using X to promote his personal political views. With more than 193 million followers, his account is the biggest on the platform and Mr. Musk has filled it with praise for the former president. He also accelerated attacks on President Biden over the past year, and he’s recently stepped up criticism of Vice President Kamala Harris. By endorsing a presidential candidate, Mr. Musk has broken with other heads of social media companies, who typically try to avoid public endorsements.”

The Washington Post’s Faiz Siddiqui and Jeremy B. Merrill wrote, “Musk’s openly partisan participation on the site he bought in October 2022 reflects a broader evolution in his public persona from business-minded tech prodigy to right-wing firebrand. It has also raised questions about Musk’s intentions for the social networking site, which he said he purchased to promote free speech and a more open exchange of ideas. In some ways, the site has become a personal megaphone for his provocative political views.”

And it isn’t just about tweets and endorsements.

The Wall Street Journal’s Dana Mattioli, Joe Palazzolo and Emily Glazer wrote about Musk’s involvement with a super PAC. They wrote, “America PAC, Musk’s first major foray into presidential politics, is less pioneering than, say, putting people on Mars or implanting microchips in their brains. But the billionaire’s full-throated support for Trump and the GOP has ignited other prominent donors. He has also received the gratitude of the Republican presidential nominee, who faces a newly energized opponent in Vice President Kamala Harris. Musk is tackling the election effort in his signature hands-on, chaos-be-damned style, echoing his 2022 takeover of Twitter and early efforts to meet Tesla’s production goals.”

Now we wait to see if Monday night’s glitches will rankle Trump enough to be hesitant of X, if it is actually in his long-term plans.

The Washington Post’s Trisha Thadani, Drew Harwell and Faiz Siddiqui wrote, “It’s unclear whether or how much Trump will continue using Musk’s platform, but in a campaign email Monday, the former president stated: ‘I’m back on X for a short time.’”

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We endorse … no one

In a bit of a surprise move, The New York Times editorial board announced Monday that it will no longer make endorsements for New York elections.

The New York Times’ Katie Robertson and Nicholas Fandos wrote, “The paper does not plan to take a stance in Senate, congressional or state legislative races in New York this fall, or in next year’s New York City elections, when Mayor Eric Adams is seeking a second term against a growing field of challengers.”

Kathleen Kingsbury, the Times’ opinion editor, did not give a reason for the decision, but said in a statement that “Opinion will continue to offer perspective on the races, candidates and issues at stake.”

The Times will continue to make endorsements in presidential elections.

The Times is not the first newspaper to cut back or eliminate political endorsements. In 2022, Alden Global Capital — which owns 200 newspapers including the Chicago Tribune, New York Daily News and The Denver Post — decided to stop endorsing candidates.

The Times has made an endorsement in every New York City mayoral election since 1897.

Robertson and Fandos wrote, “The Times’s decision to end local endorsements is likely to make waves in the cutthroat world of New York politics, where the editorial board’s view has been closely watched by generations of candidates and voters.”

Semafor co-founder Ben Smith, the former media columnist at the Times, tweeted, “What a terrible decision. The Times edit board abdicating the only thing anyone actually, really listened to them on, and leaving NYC politics to continue to drift along, more or less controlled by tiny interest groups.”

Sorry he got caught

A new book about NFL star quarterback and all-around conspiracy theorist Aaron Rodgers is due out next week and, in it, Rodgers says he regrets telling the media in 2021 that he was “immunized” against COVID-19.

Rodgers was playing with the Green Bay Packers in July 2021 when a reporter asked him if he had received a COVID-19 vaccine. Rodgers said, “Yeah, I’ve been immunized.”

That was not true.

In the upcoming book — “Out of the Darkness: The Mystery of Aaron Rodgers,” written by Ian O'Connor — Rodgers said, “If there's one thing I wish could have gone different, it’s that, because that’s the only thing (critics) could hit me with.”

So, wait. He regrets it not because he lied, but because critics who called out his garbage would have something more to use against him?

ProFootballTalk’s Mike Florio wrote, “He should regret it, but not because it gave folks like me reason to question the credibility of someone like him. He should regret it because he deliberately misrepresented the situation, hopeful that it would keep him from ever having to admit he wasn’t vaccinated. And he would have gotten away with it, if he hadn’t tested positive in November 2021.”

After he tested positive, he had to sit out for 10 days because he wasn’t vaccinated. Rodgers appealed the NFL’s rule that made him sit, saying that his homeopathic treatment regimen should qualify him as vaccinated. The appeal was turned down.

Rodgers, who is now with the New York Jets, says in the upcoming book, “But if I could do it again, I would have said, (expletive) the appeal. I’m just going to tell them I’m allergic to PEG. I’m not getting Johnson & Johnson. I’m not going to be vaxxed.”

The book also reportedly will explore Rodgers’ strained relationship with his family, as well as many of the details of his career, which like him or not, is Hall of Fame worthy.

Is shorter better?

It’s now a sprint to the White House since Vice President Kamala Harris joined the race just last month.

So Semafor’s Ben Smith wonders: “Will Kamala Harris’ short run kill the ‘permanent campaign’?”

Typically, presidential races run about, what, two years? Smith points out the downsides of such a long race: “Your rivals attack you for months. You face steady pressure to remake yourself for your party’s activist base. Journalists have many months to dig very deep on your record and your life. The public can really get sick of you. Your staff can get sick of each other.”

Smith then added, “Harris is accidentally demonstrating the alternative: She’s the hot new thing in August, riding on vibes and goodwill six months after the Super Tuesday peak of modern campaigns. When she holds a convention next week, it won’t just be a high-production finale of a long season. Viewers will be turning in to figure out who she is — and she’ll tell them. Major party figures like Barack Obama, Joe Biden, and Bill Clinton will be talking about her candidacy for the first time, not the nth. She has a shot at extending what seems like her biggest advantage over Donald Trump right now: her success at controlling the conversation on both social and legacy media.”

It’s doubtful that American presidential politics will suddenly change to these abbreviated campaigns, even if Harris wins. It’s a nice thought, but it seems rather unlikely — partly because, according to what one Democrat told Smith, “the media’s love of horserace.”

Hot mic

Boston Red Sox outfielder Jarren Duran has been suspended two games by the team and Major League Baseball after New England Sports Network microphones picked up him using an anti-gay slur towards a fan during a game.

Duran was batting Sunday afternoon in a game against the Houston Astros at Boston’s Fenway Park when a fan could be heard heckling Duran over him swinging and missing a pitch. The fan told him to use a tennis racquet. Duran then clearly could be heard telling the fan, “Shut up, you (expletive anti-gay slur).” (Warning: the slur can be heard in the video.)

Duran put out a written statement through the team after the game, saying, “During tonight's game, I used a truly horrific word when responding to a fan. I feel awful knowing how many people I offended and disappointed. I apologize to the entire Red Sox organization, but more importantly to the entire LGBTQ community. Our young fans are supposed to be able to look up to me as a role model, but tonight I fell far short of that responsibility. I will use this opportunity to educate myself and my teammates and to grow as a person.”

The Red Sox also put out a statement, saying, “We echo Jarren's apology to our fans, especially to the LGBTQ community. We strive to be an organization that welcomes all fans to Fenway Park, and we will continue to educate our employees, players, coaches and staff on the importance of inclusivity.”

It’s good to see the Red Sox and MLB punishing Duran for his hateful comment, but you wonder if nothing would have happened if the NESN microphones didn’t pick up what he said.

Duran also addressed his comments in this video, saying it was a “bad moment.” The video also includes comments from Red Sox CEO and president Sam Kennedy, Red Sox chief baseball officer Craig Breslow and Red Sox manager Alex Cora.

Media tidbits

• The Washington Post’s Will Sommer with “The skate park was thriving. Then a right-wing YouTuber bought it.”
• In Monday’s newsletter, I linked to a New York Times story about former Times staffer Bari Weiss. Well, here’s one reaction to that piece from Mediaite’s Isaac Schorr: “The New York Times’ Profile of Bari Weiss Reads Like a Jealous Ex-Lover’s Rant Because It Is One.”
• A magnitude 4.4 earthquake hit Los Angeles on Monday. ESPN’s Malika Andrews was live on the air in Los Angeles,  hosting the “NBA Today” and was a true professional throughout. Check out this video.
• The Daily Beast’s Dan Ladden-Hall with “Musk’s Daughter Flames Dad’s Biographer: ‘You Threw Me to the Wolves.’”
• Pointing out some excellent work from the Florida Alligator, the independent student newspaper at the University of Florida. Garrett Shanley writes about the 17-month stint of now-former school president Ben Sasse in “Sasse’s spending spree: Former UF president channeled millions to GOP allies, secretive contracts.”
• Mediaite’s Alex Griffing with “Trump Swiftly Fact Checked By Local Reporter For False Claim Casting Doubt On Integrity of Colorado’s Elections.”
• For Nieman Lab, Wändi Bruine de Bruin and Gale Sinatra with “If you want Americans to pay attention to climate change, just call it climate change.”
• Poynter’s Roy Peter Clark with “What I learned about writing from watching the Olympic games.”

Hot type

• The Atlantic’s Xochitl Gonzalez with “To Save the World, My Mother Abandoned Me.”
• The New York Times with “Here Are the Olympic Moments We Won’t Forget.”
• Fun video from Esquire’s “Explain This” series: “Doug Emhoff Talks Wife Kamala's Campaign and Being Second Gentleman.”

More resources for journalists

• Lead With Influence is for leaders who manage big responsibilities but have no direct reports.
• Public media journalists: attend our Digital Transformation Project Q&A webinar Aug. 13.
• Teaching, informing, empowering and convening — see our impact.

Have feedback or a tip? Email Poynter senior media writer Tom Jones at [email protected].