Elon Musk’s renewed efforts to buy Twitter could pave the way for President Donald Trump‘s return to the platform that permanently banned him a year earlier.
If Musk follows through on the deal — and if he stands by his prior plan to reverse Trump’s ban — the Republican ex-president could potentially resume tweeting in time to make an impact on the November midterm elections.
The Tesla and SpaceX CEO, who offered to buy Twitter for $54.20 a share in April but then tried to scrap the deal, this week signaled through a regulatory filing that he once again wants to proceed with the original transaction. News of the deal, which is still not finalized, sent Twitter’s stock soaring.
Before getting cold feet on the deal over the summer, Musk said he planned to lift Trump’s Twitter ban if he took over the company. “I do think it was not correct to ban Donald Trump,” Musk said in May.
Twitter had shut down Trump’s account in the wake of the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot, when a violent mob of Trump’s supporters, spurred by his false claims of a rigged election, stormed the U.S. Capitol and forced lawmakers to flee their chambers for safety.
Trump, who now posts on a similar platform he backed called Truth Social, has said he won’t return to Twitter even if he is allowed back on. “I was disappointed by the way I was treated by Twitter. I won’t be going back on Twitter,” Trump told CNBC in April.
But with Musk’s $44 billion Twitter buyout now back on the table, some believe Trump won’t be able to resist the allure of regaining an account that boasted nearly 90 million followers at its peak.
“Of course he will” return to Twitter if he can, Democratic strategist Kurt Bardella said of Trump.
The former president is “a Twitter addict” who “loves the instant gratification” it offers, Bardella said, while noting that Truth Social has so far failed to garner a similar level of user engagement.
Trump’s Truth Social account, created in February, currently has 4.15 million followers.
Twitter’s suspension of Trump “took away his megaphone,” said Jonathan Nagler, co-director of NYU’s Center for Social Media and Politics and a professor of politics. The tech giant’s move “lessened his ability to push bogus election fraud claims” and “incite action against election officials,” he said.
“Truth Social, as far as anyone can tell, has had nowhere near the impact or reach that his Twitter account has had,” Nagler said.
Spokespeople for Trump, Musk, Twitter and Trump’s company behind Truth Social did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment.
Musk has not yet reiterated that he will lift Trump’s Twitter ban if the latest buyout plans come to fruition. With sources telling CNBC that a deal could happen as soon as Friday, it’s possible Trump could be allowed to resume tweeting before the Nov. 8 midterm elections.
If so, Trump’s frequent musings about the midterms could soon be back on Twitter, reaching an audience that was once more than 20 times the size of his Truth Social following.
What’s more, Twitter is used much more heavily by most media organizations and politicians, both in the U.S. and around the world. But Nagler warned Trump may not want to be “100% beholden to Musk, the world’s richest man,” as his social media enabler.
“Elon Musk could change his mind as well,” Nagler said. “We’re trying to predict the behavior of two people, both of who seem quite agile in their ability to shift what they plan to do.”
Still, Nagler said, Trump is likely to rejoin Twitter if given a chance. “That would be my guess,” he said. “At the end of the day, Trump likes to be heard … my guess is that would win out.”
Some of Trump’s conservative fans cheered the news that Musk was once again pushing to buy Twitter. But not everyone is so sure it will benefit his allies.
“I think it’s going to cut both ways,” Nagler said. Trump’s tweets could possibly mobilize parts of his base to turn out to the polls, but “his increased visibility could be a reminder to moderates of why they do not want Republicans in office,” the professor said.
Bardella argued that Republican candidates have struggled “every time that Donald Trump has been the center of attention.”
He pointed to the 2018 midterms and the more recent Georgia special elections, which led to Democrats clinching a slim Senate majority. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin, meanwhile, unseated a Democrat in a blue-leaning state by keeping Trump at arm’s length during the general election, Bardella said.
“The last thing that Mitch McConnell and Kevin McCarthy want the elections to be is a referendum on Donald Trump,” Bardella said. “Republicans have made it very clear, they want the conversation heading into the midterms to be about the economy, inflation and crime. They don’t want it to be about Donald Trump.”
Musk’s comments about the need for Twitter to be “politically neutral,” and his recently revealed correspondence with people pushing him to fight “woke-ism” and censorship on the platform, could also indicate how the site might change the way it previously handled Trump’s tweets.
During the 2020 election, Twitter tried to combat misinformation by labeling certain accounts’ tweets with warnings and providing links with credible election information. Trump’s tweets were tagged multiple times, as the then-president regularly amplified a wide variety of conspiratorial claims that his reelection chances were being threatened by rampant election fraud.
Palantir CEO Alex Karp ranted against short-sellers, calling out specifically Michael Burry after a filing revealed the investor of “The Big Short” fame had bets against the AI software company, as well as Nvidia, at the end of the last quarter.
“The two companies he’s shorting are the ones making all the money, which is super weird,” Karp told CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “The idea that chips and ontology is what you want to short is bats— crazy.”
“He’s actually putting a short on AI… It was us and Nvidia,” Karp added.
When reached via email by CNBC seeking comment on Karp’s remarks, Burry declined to comment.
Palantir shares slid roughly 9% Tuesday even after the software company beat Wall Street estimates for the third quarter and offered upbeat guidance. Investors have grown increasingly wary of lofty valuations in AI-linked names. Palantir shares, which were up 173% for the year heading into Tuesday’s trading, have a forward price-earnings ratio of 228. Nvidia fell more than 2% after gaining more than 50% this year.
“I do think this behavior is egregious and I’m going to be dancing around when it’s proven wrong,” said Karp of short-sellers.
Burry’s hedge fund Scion Asset Management disclosed put options with a notional value of about $187 million against Nvidia and $912 million against Palantir as of Sept. 30. in a filing. The filing didn’t specify the strike prices or expiration dates of the contracts.
It’s unclear whether Burry is profiting from Tuesday’s declines. The filing reflects his positions at the end of September, and he may have since adjusted his portfolio by now. Burry declined to comment on his positions.
“It’s not even clear he’s shorting us. It’s probably just, ‘How do I get my position out and not look like a fool?'” Karp said.
The disclosure comes after Burry hinted at renewed caution in markets in a cryptic post on X last week.
“Sometimes, we see bubbles. Sometimes, there is something to do about it. Sometimes, the only winning move is not to play,” he wrote to his 1.3 million followers on the platform.
Burry gained fame for his prescient bet against mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, a trade chronicled in Michael Lewis’ The Big Short and the Oscar-winning film of the same name.
“With the shorts it’s very complex…honestly I think what’s going on here is market manipulation,” Karp said. “We delivered the best results anyone’s ever seen. It’s not even clear he’s not doing this to get out of his position. I mean these people, they claim to be ethical, but they are actually shorting one of the great businesses of the world.”
Representation of Bitcoin cryptocurrency in this illustration taken Sept. 10, 2025.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Bitcoin fell victim to investors’ risk-off mood Tuesday as cryptocurrency holders backed off, growing increasingly concerned about the sustainability of stock valuations driven to stratospheric heights by the artificial intelligence trade.
Bitcoin was last trading at $103,952, down 2.5% on the day and roughly 6% in the past two days. Ether, the second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, shed 2.5% on Tuesday and has now lost more than 10% over two days to trade at $3,503.
The leading cryptocurrencies attract many of the same investors as artificial intelligence stocks, linking the two trades when one goes bad. The Nasdaq Composite, home to the leading AI stocks, dropped almost 1% Tuesday, with investors selling AI-linked Palantir on concerns about its eye-watering valuation despite the data manager’s solid earnings results in its latest quarter.
Absent individuals
Compass Point analyst Ed Engel said individual investors may not be buying the dip as much as in the past.
“While selling from Long-term Holders is a common feature in bull markets, retail spot buyers have been less engaged than prior cycles,” he said in a note.
The latest downdraft could pull bitcoin deeper into the red, dragging the token below its critical $100,000 support level, according to the analyst.
“With Long-term Holders still selling, this leaves further downside risk if Short-term Holders’ capitulate further,” Engel wrote. “While we see support for BTC above $95k, we also don’t see many near-term catalysts.”
Bitcoin’s price has largely trended downward over the past few weeks, with October’s historically strong seasonality failing to materialize this year.
Bitcoin last failed to rise on seasonal tailwinds in October 2018, Engel noted. In the month that followed, Bitcoin plunged 37% in November of that year.
Instacart on Tuesday launched a suite of artificial intelligence tools for grocers to deliver more personalized shopping experiences and improve retail operations.
CEO Chris Rogers told CNBC that the announcement is a major step forward in the company’s enterprise strategy, which has grown to power hundreds of digital storefronts.
“It’s taking everything that we’ve been building for retailers over the last decade, and it’s bringing it into the AI era,” Rogers said. “It’s really about putting enterprise-grade AI tech in every grocer’s hands, whether it’s a small, local independent or a national chain.”
The collection of new AI Solutions includes an AI shopping assistant that grocers can provide to shoppers for personalized meal planning, budgeting, and product recommendations.
Dubbed Cart Assistant, the agent can be used across retailers’ websites through Instacart’s Storefront Pro or integrated into the company’s AI-powered shopping carts in-store, according to a release.
“AI is transforming the way people shop and today’s customers want the experience to be more personal and intuitive,” said Sprouts President and Chief Operating Officer Nick Konat in a release.
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The suite also offers Store View, which provides grocers a real-time view of store shelves and uses images and videos to identify which products are running low or out of stock. Store View is already live with McKeever’s and Good Food Holdings.
The lineup additionally includes an AI-driven catalog system and agentic analysis of retail data to provide business insights.
The online delivery firm is also working with AI companies like OpenAI, Microsoft, Google, and others to “define how grocery shopping is going to work across the next generation of digital agents,” Rogers said.
Instacart’s new products are just the latest examples of generative AI’s rising popularity within the retail industry. Amazon debuted an AI agent for third-party sellers in September, and Walmart launched “super agents” that cater to shoppers, sellers, and suppliers earlier this year.
However, Rogers said that Instacart is working with other grocers to help them compete against industry heavyweights.
“Our retail partners already look at look at us as their technology partner in the grocery industry, and they want to participate in the AI revolution the same way the largest players in the industry do,” Rogers said.