On New Year’s Day, President Trump said he had a lot of work to do over the coming year. Then he spent time on Tuesday morning on Twitter, talking about the TV show he appeared to be spending at least part of several hours watching: “Fox & Friends.”
“Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation,” Trump said in a tweet, one of several that were seemingly inspired by the show. “Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record.”
Nearly two hours earlier, “Fox & Friends,” which the president has lavished with praise, had reported that 2017 was “the safest year for commercial flying ever.”
For Trump, the tweet was par for the course. The first year of his presidency was highlighted by dozens of tweets prompted by something that aired on “Fox & Friends.” In many instances, Trump even tagged the show in the tweets, both promoting it and leaving no mystery over the inspiration for his messages.
Tuesday brought several such examples. Trump tweeted nine times before noon; at least four of those tweets echoed what aired on “Fox & Friends.” A fifth seemed to have been prompted by the Fox News show that airs after “Fox & Friends.”
Just before 8 a.m. ET, Trump aimed his fury at “Crooked Hillary Clinton” and her longtime aide, Huma Abedin. Nearly an hour-and-a-half earlier, “Fox & Friends” had run a segment about Abedin.
At around 8:15 a.m., Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council appeared on the show; about a half-hour later, Trump thanked Judd for his “kind words on how well we are doing at the Border,” and gave a shout-out to “Fox & Friends.”
Shortly before 9 a.m., Trump boasted that companies “are giving big bonuses” as a result of the Republican tax bill; about 20 minutes earlier, Rep. Steve Scalise, the House majority whip, appeared on the program and touted “companies that are giving bonuses to workers.”
Trump was back in Washington on Tuesday, his first full day back at the White House after spending the holidays in Florida. Before departing Florida on Monday, the president had commemorated the first day of 2018 with a tweet.
“Much work to be done,” he said, “but it will be a great New Year!”
It was similar to the Christmas message he offered a week earlier.
“I hope everyone is having a great Christmas,” he tweeted, “then tomorrow it’s back to work in order to Make America Great Again (which is happening faster than anyone anticipated)!”
The next morning, Trump was up early, tweeting about “Fox & Friends.”