On Tuesday, his first full day back in the White House after a holiday break spent in Florida, President Donald Trump sent 16 tweets. Sixteen!
While that wasn’t Trump’s single day record for tweets, it was more than double the seven he averages per day, according to Twitter Counter. And those 16 tweets — a mishmash of foreign policy, media grievances, cable TV recommendations and just plain old grievances — make for a compelling pastiche.
In fact, if an alien landed on Earth today — now more possible than ever! — you could show him/her/it Trump’s Twitter timeline from Tuesday as a way to explain the entirety of the Trump phenomenon.
Given that, I thought it might make sense to detail each of Trump’s tweet on Tuesday — in the order he tweeted them — with an occasional bit of commentary and/or context.
1. “The people of Iran are finally acting against the brutal and corrupt Iranian regime. All of the money that President Obama so foolishly gave them went into terrorism and into their “pockets.” The people have little food, big inflation and no human rights. The U.S. is watching!” (7:09 a.m.)
This was a continuation of a series of Trump tweets over the weekend in which he sided with the Iranian protesters and against the Iran government. He also throws in a shot at former President Barack Obama, a very Trumpian way of making clear he is not to blame for the past mistakes of the US leadership in the region.
2. “Crooked Hillary Clinton’s top aid, Huma Abedin, has been accused of disregarding basic security protocols. She put Classified Passwords into the hands of foreign agents. Remember sailors pictures on submarine? Jail! Deep State Justice Dept must finally act? Also on Comey & others.” (7:48 a.m.)
I wrote about this tweet — specifically how abnormal it was — on Tuesday.
3. “Thank you to Brandon Judd of the National Border Patrol Council for your kind words on how well we are doing at the Border. We will be bringing in more & more of your great folks and will build the desperately needed WALL! @foxandfriends” (8:44 a.m.)
Trump live-tweets TV — especially “Fox & Friends.” It’s kind of his thing.
4. “Companies are giving big bonuses to their workers because of the Tax Cut Bill. Really great!” (8:49 a.m.)
He’s right about this. Southwest Airlines and American became the latest companies to do so on Tuesday night. Also, Trump is patting himself on the back here — in case you somehow missed that.
5. “Sanctions and ‘other’ pressures are beginning to have a big impact on North Korea. Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea. Rocket man now wants to talk to South Korea for first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not – we will see!” (9:08 a.m.)
This tweet — if nothing else had come after it — would look prescient given that North Korea opened a communications channel with South Korea for the first time in almost two years overnight. Of course, 11 tweets came after this one.
6. “Since taking office I have been very strict on Commercial Aviation. Good news – it was just reported that there were Zero deaths in 2017, the best and safest year on record!” (9:13 a.m.)
The oddest of all of Trump’s morning tweets. As lots (and lots) of people have noted, there hasn’t been a fatality on a commercial US carrier since 2009.
7. “The Failing New York Times has a new publisher, A.G. Sulzberger. Congratulations! Here is a last chance for the Times to fulfill the vision of its Founder, Adolph Ochs, ‘to give the news impartially, without fear or FAVOR, regardless of party, sect, or interests involved.’ Get…” (9:39 am)
No big surprise here. Trump is obsessed with the media and its coverage of him. And he cares deeply about how The New York Times, which he views as his hometown paper, covers him. Yes, it’s a little shocking to go from North Korea to plane travel to The New York Times in the space of less than a half hour, but this is Trump being Trump.
8. “….impartial journalists of a much higher standard, lose all of your phony and non-existent ‘sources,’ and treat the President of the United States FAIRLY, so that the next time I (and the people) win, you won’t have to write an apology to your readers for a job poorly done! GL” (9:53 a.m.)
Halfway there!
Remember this: Trump defines “fair” coverage as coverage that is favorable to him. Which is not what “fair” means. Sidebar: What is the “GL” at the end of this tweet? “Good Luck” to Sulzberger?
9. “Democrats are doing nothing for DACA – just interested in politics. DACA activists and Hispanics will go hard against Dems, will start ‘falling in love’ with Republicans and their President! We are about RESULTS.” (10:16 a.m.)
Trump is the one who got rid of the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program put in place by Obama. While anything is possible, that fact makes it unlikely that DACA recipients will be “falling in love” with Trump anytime soon.
10. “We will not rest until all of America’s GREAT VETERANS can receive the care they so richly deserve. Tremendous progress has been made in a short period of time. Keep up the great work @SecShulkin @DeptVetAffairs! https://instagram.com/p/BddOPJfAngh/” (1:11 p.m.)
The most “normal” and “presidential” tweet of the day for Trump. The video linked here touts all that Trump has done for veterans.
11. “Congratulations to Senator Orrin Hatch on an absolutely incredible career. He has been a tremendous supporter, and I will never forget the (beyond kind) statements he has made about me as President. He is my friend and he will be greatly missed in the U.S. Senate!” (5:23 p.m.)
A tweet in response to the news that Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch was retiring. Worth noting: Trump had all-but-begged Hatch to run for an eighth term so as to keep Mitt Romney from coming to the Senate.
12. “It’s not only Pakistan that we pay billions of dollars to for nothing, but also many other countries, and others. As an example, we pay the Palestinians HUNDRED OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS a year and get no appreciation or respect. They don’t even want to negotiate a long overdue…” (5:37 p.m.)
Threatening the Palestinians via Twitter? Why not!
13.” …peace treaty with Israel. We have taken Jerusalem, the toughest part of the negotiation, off the table, but Israel, for that, would have had to pay more. But with the Palestinians no longer willing to talk peace, why should we make any of these massive future payments to them?” (5:37 p.m.)
Twitter diplomacy at its finest.
14. “North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the “Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times.” Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!” (7:49 p.m.)
15. “I will be announcing THE MOST DISHONEST & CORRUPT MEDIA AWARDS OF THE YEAR on Monday at 5:00 o’clock. Subjects will cover Dishonesty & Bad Reporting in various categories from the Fake News Media. Stay tuned!” (8:05 p.m.)
From a nuclear measuring contest with North Korea to awards for bad media — all in the space of 16 minutes!
16. “‘President Trump has something now he didn’t have a year ago, that is a set of accomplishments that nobody can deny. The accomplishments are there, look at his record, he has had a very significant first year.’ @LouDobbs Show,David Asman & Ed Rollins” (11:03 p.m.)
We (he?) did it! And, because we all go back to what we know, Trump ends the day live-tweeting more television — and more flattering comments about himself.
What a day! Who’s ready for the rest of the week?!