The public clash between Elon Musk and former President Donald Trump, while politically fraught, has delivered an unexpected advantage to the X platform, formerly Twitter. In just 24 hours, the social media app surged dramatically in popularity, notably climbing to the 23rd overall position on the U.S. App Store charts on June 5, a significant jump from its previous 30-day average ranking of 68. Over the past six months, X’s daily average position was typically around 58.
This rapid upward movement was not limited to Apple’s App Store. On Google Play, X similarly ascended roughly 20 spots from its ranking over the previous week, reflecting increased user interaction across platforms.
Data from Sensor Tower indicates that the number of active mobile app users in the U.S. for X increased by approximately 6% as users flocked online to follow developments in the controversy between Trump and Musk. Between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. Eastern on June 5 specifically, X’s user engagement rose by around 54% compared to typical levels seen over the preceding week.
Trump’s platform, Truth Social, also experienced a significant influx of users due to the controversy. Trump used his own platform to respond strongly to Musk, driving user activity upward by more than 400% compared to the seven-day average, according to Sensor Tower’s measurements.
However, despite Truth Social’s substantial boost in engagement due to the feud, X maintains a substantially larger audience, with roughly 100 times the mobile user base of Trump’s social app.
As the public dispute continues to fuel discussions online, X’s popularity has continued to rise. At the last reporting, it had moved further up the ranking, reaching the 19th overall spot among free apps on the U.S. App Store. Truth Social, meanwhile, held the 14th place specifically within the Social Networking category but remained outside the top 150 overall apps.
With attention firmly fixed on the continuing rivalry between the influential figures, both platforms saw their active user figures reach a three-month peak in overall usage, underscoring the considerable draw of high-profile online controversies.
