For President Donald Trump, Twitter is more than just a social network: It’s his platform of choice for communicating with the world. As such, each Trump tweet yields unprecedented power.
The Daily Dot will keep a running list of what Trump tweets in 2017—with a bit of context that the tweets often fail to provide.
Editor’s note: Due to a lack of resources and other factors, we are currently unable to keep this article updated. The best alternative resource available is CNN’s “All the President’s Tweets.”
March 8, 2017
In a pair of conspicuous tweets, Trump exclaims his “tremendous respect for women” on International Women’s Day.
I have tremendous respect for women and the many roles they serve that are vital to the fabric of our society and our economy.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
On International Women’s Day, join me in honoring the critical role of women here in America & around the world.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
The president has a vile relationship with many women due to accusations of sexual assault or other misconduct and recorded comments in which he bragged about sexually assaulting women with impunity due to his celebrity status. The tweets resulted in unnumbered insults against Trump.
Thousands of women took to the streets in cities and towns across the U.S. on International Women’s Day in opposition to the president.
Continuing his focus on jobs, Trump shares the results of a LinkedIn report that found strong job growth in January and February.
LinkedIn Workforce Report: January and February were the strongest consecutive months for hiring since August and September 2015
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
In fact, the LinkedIn report—based on “the percentage of LinkedIn members who changed the name of their new employer on their profile the same month they began their new job, divided by the total number of LinkedIn members in the U.S.”—found a 1.3 percent drop in January compared to 2016 and a 1.4 uptick in February over the previous year.
President Trump met with Rep. Elijah Cummings (D-Md.) on Wednesday to discuss problems within urban African-American communities. Trump characterizes the meeting as a “great discussion.”
Met with @RepCummings today at the @WhiteHouse. Great discussion!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
During the meeting, Cummings reportedly told the president that his characterization of “carnage” in the “inner cities” as “hurtful” and “insulting” to African-American communities. Cummings also pushed Trump, who has repeatedly alleged widespread voter fraud, to look into efforts to suppress voting, particular in communities of color.
Trump touts Fox Business and Fox Nation reports hailing job gains since the president’s election to the White House.
Great news. We are only just beginning. Together, we are going to #MAGA! https://t.co/BSp685Q9Qf pic.twitter.com/K7yeBZsf6r
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
https://twitter.com/foxnation/status/839645962796683265
March 7, 2017
While apparently watching Fox News, Trump flubs the facts to falsely pin on former President Obama the release of 122 prisoners from Guantanamo Bay detention center who later turned to terrorist groups.
122 vicious prisoners, released by the Obama Administration from Gitmo, have returned to the battlefield. Just another terrible decision!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
Obama’s predecessor, President George W. Bush, oversaw the release of 113 of the 122 former prisoners.Nine minutes after the Guantanamo tweet, Trump touts the release of House Republicans’ bill to replace Obamacare, dubbed the American Healthcare Act (AHCA). The legislation has been met with criticism from Democrats, some Senate Republicans, and Tea Party Republicans in the House alike.
Our wonderful new Healthcare Bill is now out for review and negotiation. ObamaCare is a complete and total disaster – is imploding fast!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
Trump focuses another attack on Obama, claiming Russia “ran over” [quotation marks his] him in its quest to take control of the Ukrainian region of Crimea.
For eight years Russia “ran over” President Obama, got stronger and stronger, picked-off Crimea and added missiles. Weak! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
The tweet is both a shift in Trump’s softball approach to Russia and a deflection away from ongoing inquiries into the Trump team’s relationship with the Kremlin.
Trump adds in new features to House Republicans’ recently unveiled bill meant to replace the Affordable Care Act, known as Obamacare.
Don’t worry, getting rid of state lines, which will promote competition, will be in phase 2 & 3 of healthcare rollout. @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
I am working on a new system where there will be competition in the Drug Industry. Pricing for the American people will come way down!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
The House bill removes Obamacare’s individual mandate that imposes an annual tax penalty for anyone who fails to maintain health insurance and replaces it with tax credits based on age rather than income. Buying insurance across state lines and lower drug prices have been regular talking points for Trump.
The president refutes reports of infighting and tumult within his administration as “fake news,” a term he now owns.
Don’t let the FAKE NEWS tell you that there is big infighting in the Trump Admin. We are getting along great, and getting major things done!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
It is unclear which report Trump is discussing, but there are a number to choose from: Politico, the Washington Post, and CNN all published recent stories of tensions within the White House.
Trump addresses Rep. Rand Paul directly regarding the Kentucky Republican’s criticism of the House bill intended to replace Obamacare, which he referred to as “Obamacare lite.”
I feel sure that my friend @RandPaul will come along with the new and great health care program because he knows Obamacare is a disaster!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 8, 2017
“This is Obamacare lite. It will not pass. Conservatives aren’t gonna take it,” Paul told Fox & Friends. “Premiums and prices will continue to spiral out of control.”
March 6, 2017
Trump shares a White House press release praising Exxon Mobil for initiatives the company says will create “35,000 construction jobs and more than 12,000 full-time jobs” in the U.S., many of which the company says will pay between $75,000 and $125,000 per year.
‘President Trump Congratulates Exxon Mobil for Job-Creating Investment Program’https://t.co/adBzWhtq8S
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2017
The prospect of tens of thousands of new, high-paying jobs was quickly overshadowed by the peculiarity of the White House press release. First, it reads very much like a press release for Exxon Mobil, of which Trump’s secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, served as CEO from 2006 until this January. In fact, an entire paragraph in the press release was taken—some say plagiarized—directly from an Exxon Mobil press release about the same investment.
More importantly, Exxon Mobil began its $20 billion investment during the Obama administration, before Trump became president, reports the Houston Chronicle.
Media chatter about the press release did not dissuade Trump from tweeting about the deal and jobs in general for the rest of the day.
There is an incredible spirit of optimism sweeping the country right now—we’re bringing back the JOBS! pic.twitter.com/BNSLvKiEVj
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 6, 2017
Buy American & hire American are the principles at the core of my agenda, which is: JOBS, JOBS, JOBS! Thank you @exxonmobil.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
Thank you to @exxonmobil for your $20 billion investment that is creating more than 45,000 manufacturing & construction jobs in the USA!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 7, 2017
March 5, 2017
Trump revives earlier reports that the FBI did not itself inspect the Democratic National Committee’s computers that were connected to what U.S. intelligence says was Russian cyberattacks.
Is it true the DNC would not allow the FBI access to check server or other equipment after learning it was hacked? Can that be possible?
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2017
The president’s characterization—that the DNC did “not allow” the FBI to inspect its server—is true, according to an unnamed FBI source who spoke with Wired. The Wired piece follows a report in BuzzFeed News that said the FBI “never asked” to inspect the DNC servers because it had a full diagnostics report from the DNC’s hired cybersecurity firm, CrowdStrike.
Regardless of who asked for what, the FBI regularly relies on third-party diagnostic data during investigations.
Minutes after tweeting about the investigation into the DNC’s server, Trump coyly criticizes former President Barack Obama by quoting a question posed this morning by Fox & Friends.
Who was it that secretly said to Russian President, “Tell Vladimir that after the election I’ll have more flexibility?” @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2017
Indeed, Obama in March 2012 told Russia’s outgoing President Dmitry Medvedev that he would have “more flexibility” to address controversial issues between the U.S. and Russia after the November presidential election. Medvedev said he would convey the message to Vladimir Putin, who was set to take power as president.
The instance, which was caught on a hot mic during a nuclear summit in Seoul, South Korea, became a major criticism of Obama by the right. Trump supporters now cite the incident as evidence of hypocrisy from the left over the president’s attitude toward Russia and Putin.
Trump thanks supporters for holding rallies in support of his presidency.
Thank you for the great rallies all across the country. Tremendous support. Make America Great Again!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 5, 2017
The March 4 Trump rallies, held the previous day, drew thousands of supporters across the United States. In some locations, Trump supporters clashed with anti-Trump protesters. A number of the rallies turned violent, and at least 10 people were arrested in Berkeley, California, as a result of the confrontation there.
March 4, 2017
Trump defends Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself earlier in the week from investigations into the Trump campaign after reports revealed that he falsely denied meeting Russian officials during the 2016 election season in response to questions during Senate confirmation hearings.
The first meeting Jeff Sessions had with the Russian Amb was set up by the Obama Administration under education program for 100 Ambs……
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
In the most explosive tweets of his presidency, Trump accuses former President Barack Obama of having his “wires tapped” at Trump Tower. The president offers no proof for the accusation against his predecessor. The tweets against Obama come amid defenses of Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ newly revealed meetings with Russia’s ambassador.
Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my “wires tapped” in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Just out: The same Russian Ambassador that met Jeff Sessions visited the Obama White House 22 times, and 4 times last year alone.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Is it legal for a sitting President to be “wire tapping” a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
I’d bet a good lawyer could make a great case out of the fact that President Obama was tapping my phones in October, just prior to Election!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
After Arnold Schwarzenegger resigns as host of the new Celebrity Apprentice, Trump—who serves as an executive producer on the show—says he was “fired.”
Arnold Schwarzenegger isn’t voluntarily leaving the Apprentice, he was fired by his bad (pathetic) ratings, not by me. Sad end to great show
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017
Schwarzenegger said in a statement, “I would absolutely work with all of them again on a show that doesn’t have this baggage.” The former California governor later said that the “baggage” was Trump, whose involvement in the show sparked a boycott.
March 3, 2017
President Trump plugs the book Green Card Warrior, a book detailing the U.S. immigration process from the perspective of its Australian author, 33-year-old conservative commentator Nick Adams.
Nick Adams new book, Green Card Warrior, is a must read. The merit-based system is the way to go. Canada, Australia! @foxandfriends
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
A condemnation of the U.S. immigration process, the book supports the president’s overarching philosophy that U.S. immigration is broken.
Returning to a common refrain, Trump blames Democratic senators for not confirming his two remaining cabinet picks.
It is so pathetic that the Dems have still not approved my full Cabinet.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
What the president fails to mention is that he has not yet submitted the paperwork for Andrew Acosta (replacement for Andrew Puzder, Trump’s initial pick for Labor Secretary) nor his nominee to run the Department of Agriculture, Sonny Perdue.
Trump promotes his weekly address.
Weekly Address
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
Join me here: https://t.co/SEavQK5zy5 pic.twitter.com/EnyXYeqgcp
The president calls for an investigation into New York’s Sen. Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader. Trump’s call for an investigation includes a 13-year-old photo of Schumer eating a donut and drinking coffee with Russian President Vladimir Putin at a Lukoil gas station in New York City.
We should start an immediate investigation into @SenSchumer and his ties to Russia and Putin. A total hypocrite! pic.twitter.com/Ik3yqjHzsA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
The tweet is a rebuttal to criticism from Schumer and many others over Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ false statements to members of the Senate regarding his contact with Russian officials during the campaign. Sessions reportedly on met multiple occasions with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak in the lead up to Election Day.
Unlike Sessions, Schumer did not deny meeting with Russian officials while under oath. The senator challenged Trump to discuss his and his associates’ contacts to detail their potential Russian contacts.
Happily talk re: my contact w Mr. Putin & his associates, took place in ’03 in full view of press & public under oath. Would you &your team? https://t.co/yXgw3U8tmQ
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 3, 2017
And for the record, they were Krispy Kreme donuts.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) March 3, 2017
The president shares a photo from his meeting at St. Andrew, a Catholic school in Orlando, Florida.
We must fix our education system for our kids to Make America Great Again. Wonderful day at Saint Andrew in Orlando. pic.twitter.com/OTJaHcvLzf
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
Following his call for an investigation into Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Trump calls for a similar investigation of House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, who falsely stated that she had not ever met Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak.
I hereby demand a second investigation, after Schumer, of Pelosi for her close ties to Russia, and lying about it. https://t.co/qCDljfF3wN
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
Prior to Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20, Kislyak had conversations with multiple Trump officials, including Attorney General Jeff Sessions, who recused himself earlier in the week from any investigations into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia, and former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, who resigned for misleading Vice President Mike Pence regarding the nature of the call.
Trump’s use of the word “hereby”—a term often associated with a monarch—drew further scrutiny after the president deleted two earlier tweets in which the word was misspelled.
Ending his day of tweets, Trump shares a promotional video highlighting moments from his presidency thus far.
MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN! pic.twitter.com/kuQiZDz4rA
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
March 2, 2017
Trump touts the impressive market gains since his victory in the presidential election. The economic cheerleading follows Trump’s vows during his joint address to Congress during which he promised “massive” tax relief, a move he promises will improve the U.S. economy.
Since November 8th, Election Day, the Stock Market has posted $3.2 trillion in GAINS and consumer confidence is at a 15 year high. Jobs!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 2, 2017
The tweet comes just hours after the Washington Post reported that Attorney General Jeff Sessions twice met Russia’s ambassador to the U.S., Sergey Kislyak, during the 2016 campaign season. Sessions failed to disclose this during his Senate confirmation hearings despite related questioning.
Trump defends Jeff Sessions after his attorney general recused himself from all potential investigations into the Trump campaign’s potential ties to Russia.
Jeff Sessions is an honest man. He did not say anything wrong. He could have stated his response more accurately, but it was clearly not….
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
…to win. The Democrats are overplaying their hand. They lost the election, and now they have lost their grip on reality. The real story…
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
…is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total “witch hunt!”
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 3, 2017
Multiple reports confirmed that Sessions met with Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during the 2016 campaign. In response to a question from Sen. Al Franken (D-Minn.), Sessions volunteered that he had not met with any Russian officials during the 2016 campaign while acting as a surrogate for Trump: “I have been called a surrogate at a time or two in that campaign, and I did not have communications with the Russians.”
March 1, 2017
Trump thanks America following his speech before Congress, marking a new touchstone in his presidency.
THANK YOU!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2017
Immediately following the speech, even Trump’s staunchest critics regarded it as a turning point and a moment that made him appear more “presidential” than any other action since he took occupancy in the White House.
The honeymoon provided by the speech would not last 24 hours.
Feb. 28, 2017
After Twitter silence the entire day, Trump promotes his Joint Address before Congress, his first major address as president following inauguration.
Join me live at 9:00 P.M. #JointAddress https://t.co/J882zbyVkJ pic.twitter.com/gTtK3vJmkU
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2017
#JointSession #MAGA🇺🇸https://t.co/RDO6Jt2pip
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 1, 2017
Feb. 27, 2017
Trump shares a photo of himself with the chief executives of health insurance companies following his meeting to discuss the future of the Affordable Care Act, which he has vowed to “repeal and replace.”
The CEOs in attendance were from UnitedHealth Group Inc., Aetna Inc., Anthem Inc., Cigna Corp., Humana Inc., Independence Blue Cross, Kaiser Permanente, and BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina.
Trump on Monday lamented the delay in repealing and replacing Obamacare. “It’s an unbelievably complex subject,” Trump said. “Nobody knew health care could be so complicated.”
The statement has received condemnation as woefully ignorant given the obviously complicated nature of healthcare in America.
Trump also said it would make political—but not ethical—sense to let Obamacare fail so the consequences could be blamed on Democrats.
“Let it be a disaster, because we can blame that on the Dems that are in our room—and we can blame that on the Democrats and President Obama,” Trump said in his remarks before the National Governors Association. “But we have to do what’s right, because Obamacare is a failed disaster.”
Trump says he will unveil next steps on healthcare in the U.S. during his address to Congress on Tuesday night.
Feb. 26, 2017
The day after the DNC elected a new chairman, Trump gave his opinion on the legitimacy of the election.
Assuming Trump watched CNN this morning and spotted a New York Times commercial set to run on Sunday’s Oscars telecast, he was quick to attack the newspaper again.
Seemingly apropos of nothing, Trump returned to an old standby in the middle of a slow Sunday afternoon.
Feb. 25, 2017
Trump started his weekend with a tweet fantasizing about what it would be like if his supporters threw their own rally/protest.
He immediately was scorched by Bernie Sanders.
Clearly, Trump was watching Fox News in the minutes before he came to this conclusion (since Herman Cain said basically this exactly same thing on Fox & Friends).
The problem with Trump taking credit for this mostly meaningless statistic? Trump hasn’t submitted a budget, and the government is still working off the budget of the last administration.
If you missed Trump’s weekly address, you’re in luck. He’s tweeted you a link.
Though the White House Correspondents’ Dinner isn’t for another two months, Trump has already sent back his RSVP. His awful relationship with the press was probably one reason for his bowing out.
The Democratic National Committee elected a new chairman on Saturday, and Trump decided to weigh in on the selection.
Feb. 24, 2017
Trump blasts the Federal Bureau of Investigation for failing to stop “leakers.”
The president’s tweets likely come in response to a CNN story published the night before in which unnamed U.S. officials claim White House staff asked FBI leadership to help them dispute inaccuracies in earlier reports about the Trump campaign’s contact with Russian intelligence officials.
Trump teases his appearance at the Conservative Political Action Conference, better known as CPAC.
In his keynote address, the president attacked “fake news” as the “enemy of the American people,” lamented the media’s use of anonymous sources, and claim the media entirely fabricates sources.
Trump shares an Associated Press story about his plan to combat human trafficking.
Trump said human trafficking is an issue this is “not talked about enough.”
Trump returns to bash the New York Times and CNN as “fake news.”
That evening, the White House banned CNN, the Times, and at least four other news outlets from a press briefing.
Feb. 23, 2017
Trump shares positive economic news linked to his push for U.S. companies to boost American jobs.
The S&P 500, a Wall Street index often used to take the temperature of the market, has risen 10 percent overall since Trump’s election.
Trump returns to highlight the scourge of gun violence that has afflicted Chicago for years.
Of the seven homicides in Chicago on Wednesday, six took place on the city’s South Side, which has been the epicenter of the violence, according to the Sun-Times. One of the victims was a pregnant woman.
Trump has vowed to send in federal help for police, but that has not yet materialized.
Trump teases a meeting with his business council, a group he formed to help advise him on business matters, which is scheduled to take place on Thursday night.
Feb. 22, 2017
Trump weighs in on the race for head of the Democratic National Committee by touting his unexpected win.
Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), a progressive candidate to chair the DNC, said on ABC’s This Week in July 2015 that “stranger things have happened” than Trump winning the Republican nomination, which he obviously did.
Trump says he enjoyed his tour of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture.
“This museum is a beautiful tribute to so many American heroes,” Trump said of the tour. “It’s amazing to see. We did a pretty comprehensive tour, but not comprehensive enough.”
Feb. 21, 2017
Trump shares a new poll that finds strong opposition to ‘sanctuary cities,’ or cities where the police have been directed to not arrest undocumented immigrants.
The Harvard–Harris Poll poll found that 80 percent of voters believe police should enforce immigration law. The poll also found that 52 percent of respondents support Trump’s executive orders on immigration, including his controversial travel ban.
The U.S. has approximately 60 sanctuary cities, including major metropolises like New York and Los Angeles. Their policies vary widely, as do their reasonings for not turning in undocumented immigrants, ranging from budgetary concerns to efforts to reduce racial profiling.
The Trump administration has vowed to rescind federal funding for cities that refuse to enforce immigration law.
The president dismisses recent protests at town halls around the country that have targeted Republican lawmakers.
While the protests are often organized by progressive and Democratic groups, the activists have pushed back against false claims that they are “paid” or otherwise not constituents of the lawmakers they’re addressing. (Some activists have begun wearing name tags with their zip codes as evidence that they are locals.)
Trump’s broader point here appears to be that, while the protesters may be loud, they are not in the majority in these districts.
Feb. 20, 2017
Trump blames the conversation he started about immigrants in Sweden on the media.
The previous day, the president appeared to admit that he misspoke at a rally in Florida on Saturday when he said, “You look at what’s happening last night in Sweden” while discussing terrorism. In fact, nothing had happened in Sweden the previous night. A White House spokeswoman later clarified that Trump was discussing “rising crime and recent incidents in general, and not referring to a specific incident.” That, too, is incorrect, according to the 2016 Swedish Crime Survey, which found crime rates in the country have changed very little over the past decade.
In other words, Trump is complaining about the media covering what he said rather than what the White House claims he meant, which also turns out to be misleading.
Trump wishes America a happy President’s Day.
America, however, was not feeling quite so festive. Approximately 30 cities across the U.S. held “Not My President” marches in protest of Trump and his agenda.
Trump announces his new national security adviser, Lt. Gen. H.R. McMaster.
McMaster, who will remain active duty military as NSA, replaces Michael Flynn as Trump’s national security adviser. Flynn resigned earlier in the month for misleading Vice President Mike Pence and others about the nature of his pre-inauguration call with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S.
Feb. 19, 2017
After speculation that Trump had invented a terrorist attack in Sweden during his Florida rally on Saturday, Trump clarified that he was referencing a report he’d seen on Fox News.
The tweet did little to resolve the issue, however, as Sweden’s government pushed back against Trump’s claims of an “incident” that did not occur. The segment Fox News aired, which included footage from a documentary, was also disputed by Swedish police officers who say their words were deceptively edited.
Regardless, Trump’s supporters began to attack Sweden and find any example they could of immigrant criminality.
Trump only tweeted once this day, a rare occurrence.
Feb. 18, 2017
The sun has risen again, meaning that it’s a new day for Trump to attack the media, which he now has deemed the enemy.
Trump should make most of his Saturday news when he travels from Palm Beach, Florida to Melbourne, Florida to attend his own rally. He’s also spending his third weekend in a row at Mar-a-Lago.
This might be the first time he’s referred to Mar-a-Lago as the Southern White House. It previously had been colloquially known as the Winter White House.
At about 3:30pm ET, Trump was ready to travel up the Florida coast.
Feb. 17, 2017
Trump starts his day of tweeting by criticizing Democrats for delaying the confirmation of Tom Price, a Republican congressman from Georgia, as head of Health and Human Services.
The Senate confirmed Price has HHS secretary a week before Trump’s tweet. Prior to Price’s confirmation, Trump promised that a replacement to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, would happen “essentially simultaneously” to Price’s confirmation. Neither the Trump administration nor Republicans in Congress have unveiled a plan to replace Obamacare despite movement to repeal it.
Trump announces his trip to South Carolina for a meeting with Boeing executives and for the unveiling of its new Dreamliner jet.
During the event, Trump vowed to protect American jobs. Speaking to a crowd of Boeing workers, Trump said, “”I’m going to do everything I can to unleash the power of the American spirit and to put our great people back to work.”
Trump’s “America First” mantra, as he calls it, includes plans to impose a “substantial penalty” on companies who move operations outside the U.S.
After his hour-long press conference earlier in the week, Trump cheers conservative commentator Rush Limbaugh for praising Trump’s showing.
Limbaugh did not, however, call the press conference “one of the greatest ever,” as Trump said. Instead, he called it “one of the most effective I’ve ever seen.”
“The press is gonna hate him even more after this, don’t misunderstand,” Limbaugh continued. “When I say ‘effective,’ I’m talking about rallying people who voted for him to stay with him.”
Trump teases Lt. Gen. Keith Kellogg as a candidate for his replacement national security adviser.
The replacement is necessary because Trump forced his earlier national security adviser, Michael Flynn, to resign after he was caught misleading the vice president and others about communications with Russia’s ambassador to the U.S. prior to Trump’s inauguration.
Trump teases his weekly presidential address.
Following months of attacks on the media, the president of the United States declares the press an “enemy of the American people.”
The attack, which is notable for its anti-First Amendment sentiment, follows a deluge of news based on leaked information from within the U.S. government that has dogged Trump’s administration since the beginning.
Trump returns to characterizations of his press conference, calling unflattering media interpretations of it “fake.”
The president stated at the press conference that he considers news “fake” when it has a critical “tone.”
Trump gets excited for his rally in Florida on Saturday. The event marks the beginning of his 2020 reelection campaign.
Feb. 16, 2017
Trump cheers gains in global markets. Three major Wall Street indicators—the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500, and the Nasdaq—all hit record highs this week following Trump’s promise of a “phenomenal tax plan,” which he said will be announced in the next few weeks.
Market analysts have warned against betting too heavily on Trump’s tax plan actually being as phenomenal as the president claims, but the pre-announcement speculation from traders is overwhelmingly bullish.
Starting at just before 7am ET, Trump begins to tear into government leakers, the media, and the Democrats for what he calls the “fake news” about his team’s reported constant contact with Russian officials.
Interestingly, Trump appears to both be confirming that people are leaking legitimate information while also claiming that the stories about the information are false and that news outlets like the New York Times are making up sources.
Trump regularly praised leaks during his campaign, when they primarily benefited him. As president, however, Trump has condemned leaks from the intelligence community as criminal acts and has vowed to crack down on leakers.
Trump tweets a news story about his new executive order, which eliminates the Office of Surface Mining’s Stream Protection Rule.
The order allows coal companies to dump waste into streams, which environmental advocates say is a hazard to the ecosystem including humans. Trump called the regulation “another terrible job killing rule” during the signing.
Feb. 15, 2017
The president comes out swinging against the media after a pair of bombshell reports—one by the New York Times, another by CNN—that allege then-candidate Trump’s team had “constant communication” with Russian intelligence officials before Election Day.
The Times report, based on information from four anonymous current and former American officials, claims that U.S. intelligence agencies have “phone records and intercepted calls” revealing the extent of the communications.
Trump followed this with a tweetstorm against the Times and CNN reports, in which he blames the “Russian connection non-sense [sic]” on Hillary Clinton, denounces leaks coming from within U.S. intelligence agencies, and condemns Russia for its aggression against Ukraine and the Obama administration for failing to stop it.
The reports that sparked all this come 24 hours after Trump’s national security adviser, Michael Flynn, resigned for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the content of a pre-inauguration phone call with Russia’s ambassador to the United States.
While the latest reports, based on anonymous sources within the U.S. government, contain no specific details about the nature of the Trump team’s contact with Russian intelligence officials, Pence and other Trump surrogates have repeatedly denied that Trump’s camp had contact with Russia.
During the Jan. 15 episode of Face the Nation, host John Dickerson asked Pence if anyone in the Trump campaign had communicated with “the Russians who were trying to meddle in the election,” referencing the Russian intelligence agencies accused of hacking Democratic Party operatives and institutions.
“Of course not,” Pence replied. “And I think to suggest that is to give credence to some of these bizarre rumors that have swirled around the candidacy. And the fact that a few news organizations, not this one, actually trafficked in a memo that was produced as opposition research and associated that with intelligence efforts I think could only be attributed to media bias.”
As recently as Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer denied any communication between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Trump tweets a photo of himself in the Oval Office with members of the Retail Industry Leaders Association (RILA), a lobbying group for the retail industry.
The retail industry has pushed back against the Republicans’ proposal to institute a border assessment tax, which would more tax goods imported from overseas. The bulk of certain goods, like clothing and electronics are made overseas. By adding a border assessment tax, retailers would likely be forced to raise their prices, which would hurt their businesses.
In a statement, RILA Chairman Bill Rhodes (who is also chairman and CEO of AutoZone) called the meeting with the president “productive.”
“Today, we had a positive and productive conversation with President Trump about the important role the retail industry plays in our national economy,” Rhodes said. “We stressed the importance of taking a thoughtful approach to tax reform for both individuals and corporations.”
Trump hosts Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House.
During a press conference with the Israeli leader, Trump drew laughs from Netanyahu after he said he would support either a two-state or one-state solution to the Israeli–Palestinian conflict, a potential reversal from his previous support of just a two-state solution with both Israel and Palestine having their own sovereign countries. “I’m looking at two states and one state,” Trump said. “I like the one that both parties like. I can live with either one.”
The comment—an off-the-cuff remark about one of the most complex and contentious issues in geopolitics—has reportedly angered and confused Palestinians.
Trump advertises a “rally” he’s holding in Florida this weekend.
White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer told reporters the event would be held through Trump’s “campaign,” effectively marking the beginning of the president’s 2020 re-election effort less than a month into his first term in office.
Trump returns to bang the anti-Obamacare drum, sharing a news story featuring the comments from Aetna CEO Mark Bertolini. The insurance giant has a dire outlook for the future of America’s leading health care law.
“It is in a death spiral,” Bertolini told the Wall Street Journal of the Affordable Care Act.
Republicans in Congress have vowed to replace Obamacare with a better solution, but they have yet to produce a plan to do so.
Trump calls on Venezuela to release a political prisoner, Leopoldo Lopez, who was sentenced to 14 years in prison in 2014 for “inciting violence” during a protest.
A fierce opponent of Venezuela’s government, Lopez is a popular political organizer who received an education in the United States, including a master’s degree from Harvard University. Despite the government’s charges, no witnesses could put Lopez at the scene of the Feb. 12, 2014, demonstration, which turned violent. Protesters destroyed property, and police killed three demonstrators.
Earlier this week, the Trump administration imposed sanctions on Venezuela’s vice president, Tareck El Aissami, whom the Treasury Department characterized in a statement as a drug kingpin.
Feb. 14, 2017
Breaking his Twitter silence on the resignation of Michael Flynn, Trump claims the “real news” is the leaks from government officials as opposed to the departure of his national security adviser less than a month into Trump’s presidency.
The White House has vowed to crack down on leaks, which provided media outlets with details about Flynn’s call with the Russian ambassador prior to Trump’s inauguration. Flynn resigned for misleading Vice President Mike Pence about the nature of the call, which reportedly included discussing U.S. sanctions on Russia.
Trump’s mention of North Korea is particularly remarkable due to the president conducting a national security briefing at his Mar-a-Lago club in Florida over the weekend to discuss North Korea’s test launch of an intercontinental ballistic missile. The meeting was conducted with guests and waitstaff nearby, none of whom likely received security clearance. Photos of the briefing appeared on social media.
Trump shares a video of a “parent-teacher” meeting with himself and Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.
DeVos has faced constant criticism from teachers’ unions for her monied activism in favor of privatized schools.
Trump shares his remarks made during a bill signing. The bill, H.J. Resolution 41, lifts disclosure requirements for oil and gas companies.
The legislation removes a Dodd-Frank SEC rule that requires energy companies to disclose the taxes and fees they pay to foreign governments. The bill aligns with Trump’s overall deregulation efforts.
Trump says the Affordable Care Act is destined to fail on news that a major health insurance provider will pull out of the Obamacare exchanges next year.
Humana said it was leaving the exchange because it had enrolled too many people with illnesses and other conditions and not enough healthy people to stabilize its revenue margins.
Republican lawmakers, along with Trump, have vowed to “repeal and replace” Obamacare. A replacement has not yet been announced despite Trump’s earlier claims that his administration had a draft plan coming soon.
Feb. 13, 2017
The president teases his forthcoming meeting with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.
Trump and Trudeau, who have stood on opposite sides of other issues, gathered to launch a new taskforce between the two countries to promote women in the workforce.
Trump tweets a photo of him and Trudeau shaking hands. Photos of a later handshake in the Oval Office would soon go viral due to the Canadian leader’s facial expression.
The two leaders discussed their women’s workforce initiative and U.S.–Canadian trade.
Trump congratulates Steve Mnuchin for being confirmed as the new Treasury secretary.
The Senate confirmed Mnuchin 53-47, largely along party lines. A former Goldman Sachs executive, Mnuchin is one of a number of wealthy nominees to Trump’s cabinet, which together is worth billions of dollars.
Trump also congratulated Dr. David Shulkin, whom the Senate unanimously confirmed to run the Veterans Affairs Department.
Shulkin is the only Trump cabinet nominee to not receive heavy pushback from Democratic senators, who have largely opposed all of Trump’s other picks. Under the Obama administration, Shulkin served as undersecretary for health at the VA.
Feb. 12, 2017
With the news last week that Immigration and Custom Enforcement agents have been making raids throughout the country, Trump gave himself credit.
He also took aim at his immigration ban that has been overturned by the judicial branch.
When there were technical difficulties during a CNN interview with Bernie Sanders on Friday, Trump leaped to the assumption that the Vermont senator was being censored.
Turns out Sanders had been criticizing Trump’s use of the “fake news” term, and after restoring Sanders’s audio, the interviewed continued for another nine minutes. Politifact rated Trump’s tweet as “false.”
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban last week warned American CEOs for how they deal with Trump. Apparently, Trump took offense.
Cuban did say in June 2015 that Trump was “probably the best thing to happen to politics in a long, long time.” But a year later, he called Trump a “jagoff” and endorsed Hillary Clinton for president.
As for Trump’s tweet, Cuban basically laughed in his face.
After two days of playing golf and sharing meals with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Trump gave him a fond farewell.
Trump took time to give a shoutout to one of his top advisers, Stephen Miller, who got into a contentious debate with ABC’s George Stephanopoulos over the issue of voter fraud.
Stephanopoulos ended the interview by saying over and over again that Miller had provided no proof of fraud.
Trump lambasts the “fake news media” for not reporting on “big crowds of enthusiastic supporters” outside his Mar-a-Lago resort in Palm Beach, Florida, where the president was hosting Japanese Prime Minister Shinz? Abe.
Local reporters were quick to refute Trump’s claim. WSVN reported that the groups of people gathered on the roadside were actually made up of “anti-Trump protesters” standing in opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline, as well as a “handful” of supporters.
Feb. 11, 2017
Trump hasn’t talked much about the border wall lately, but with the news this week that the wall separating the U.S. and Mexico would cost more than $21 billion, almost twice what he originally said it would cost, the president felt compelled to tweet about the subject.
After an awkward meeting Friday with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in which Trump crushed his colleague’s hand and pretended to understand Japanese, Trump tweeted he was looking forward to a less formal get-together.
On Friday night, Patriots owner Bob Kraft joined the two world leaders for dinner in Florida. On Saturday afternoon, Trump gave an update.
He also included in the outing a special guest, international golfing star Ernie Els. (We also assume Trump meant he “played” golf and didn’t “playef” golf.)
Later, they went to dinner.
And made a joint statement.
With news Saturday that more department stores have dropped Ivanka Trump’s clothing line from their websites—Sears and Kmart—Trump was also in a defensive mood Saturday.
Feb. 10, 2017
Trump continues his argument against the federal appeals court decision to keep in a place a temporary restraining order against Trump’s travel ban.
The Lawfare article Trump cited was mentioned on MSNBC just moments before the president posted this tweet.
Benjamin Wittes, editor in chief of Lawfare, responded to Trump’s tweet, which he called “very strange” and clarified what his conclusion on the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals’ decision actually was. “No, I had not said or implied that the decision was disgraceful (with or without an exclamation point). And while I had indeed noted the omission in the ruling that Trump was trumpeting and criticized some of the virtue signaling in the opinion, I had noted some other things as well. For example, I had written that ‘The Ninth Circuit is correct to leave the TRO in place, in my view.’”
Trump calls the New York Times, one of his favorite media targets, “fake news” for reporting that Trump had not spoken to the president of China since Nov. 14.
It appears as though Trump was reading the print version of the article, which was published the night before. The more up-to-date online version was edited to include Trump’s Thursday evening phone call.
Feb 9, 2017
Trump paints Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) as a liar. The attack follows the lawmaker revealing, correctly, that Trump’s nominee to the Supreme Court, Neil Gorsuch, criticized the president’s remarks about judges.
Gorsuch said during a meeting with Blumenthal and others that Trump’s criticism of judges and the U.S. judicial system after federal courts put the president’s travel ban on hold was “disheartening” and “demoralizing.” The comments were confirmed by others in the meeting.
Trump’s reference to Blumenthal’s disputed service in Vietnam refers to his 2010 Senate campaign, during which he at times “exaggerated” his service. While both Blumenthal may have lied about his service, Trump falsely claimed that CNN’s Chris Cuomo did not ask the senator about his In fact, the first question Cuomo asked was, “What is your response to the president of the United States saying you should not be believed because you misrepresented your military record in the past?”
Trump condemns Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) for calling a recent military raid in Yemen, which resulted in the death of Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens, a Navy SEAL, a “failure.” McCain later amended this characterization, saying he would “not describe any operation that results in the loss of American life as a success.”
The raid, conducted against al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), also resulted in the deaths of 14 AQAP fighters and 25 civilians, including nine children under age 13.
Trump shares the link to a livestream of new Attorney General Jeff Sessions’ swearing-in ceremony.
Immediately following a federal appeals court decision to keep a hold on Trump’s travel ban in place, the president vowed to continue to fight the temporary restraining order and asserted the court had put the U.S. at risk.
Trump’s promise to “SEE YOU IN COURT” after having just seen his legal challengers—the states of Washington and Minnesota—in court quickly became a meme.
Feb. 8, 2017
Trump returns to condemn the U.S. judicial system for imposing a temporary restraining order on Trump’s immigration executive order. A federal court in San Francisco is set to hear oral arguments in the case on Tuesday evening.
The notion that the U.S. “will never have the safety and security to which we are entitled” if the court’s stay on the executive order remains in place is a controversial notion. No immigrants from the seven Muslim-majority countries affected by the executive order—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—have committed a deadly act of terrorism since Sept. 11, 2001. At least three non-lethal attacks have been carried out by people from Iran or Somalia.
Trump tweets about his forthcoming speech before the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
During the speech on Wednesday, Trump promised to wage a “ruthless” war on drugs and encouraged law enforcement to turn over “illegals” to the Department of Homeland Security. The president also called the arguments by a Washington state attorney who is pushing to keep the stay on Trump’s travel ban in place “disgraceful.”
Trump lashes out at the Nordstrom department store chain for dropping his daughter Ivanka’s product line, blurring the distinction between the actions of the president and the Trump family businesses.
Nordstrom told the Associated Press in a statement that its buying decisions were based on product “performance,” not politics.
Trump apparently posted the tweet 21 minutes into his national security briefing, according to White House documents.
The president shares an article detailing 16 “fake news” stories produced by prominent media outlets since Trump’s election. The list includes a range of stories that later turned out to be incorrect, not stories that were entirely fabricated. The article supports Trump’s repeated assertion that the media is “dishonest.”
Trump asserts that a federal court should decide to lift a stay on Trump’s controversial travel ban that affects seven predominantly Muslim countries.
The use of “Easy D”—he likely meant “easy decision”—immediately sparked endless jokes on Twitter.
Trump shares a short video of his meeting with the CEO of Intel, Brian Krzanich, who announced Wednesday plans to invest $7 billion to build a plant in Arizona.
The plant, which will be located in Chandler, Arizona, will employ up to 3,000 people.
Trump shares a Morning Consult poll showing his controversial immigration ban enjoys support from 55 percent of Americans.
On average, Americans are largely split over the immigration executive order, which forbids entry by citizens of seven Muslim-majority nations and suspends the U.S. refugee program. An earlier CNN/ORC poll, for example, found 53 percent of respondents opposed to the executive order.
The Morning Consult poll also found that Trump’s approval rating had fallen 2 percentage points to 47 percent and his disapproval rating rose 5 percentage points to 46 percent.
Trump shares news about a poll that found international support for his travel ban on seven predominantly Muslim countries.
While both Americans and Europeans may support Trump’s effort to keep certain people from entering the United States, the courts have so far not agreed with its legality. The travel ban is currently on hold due to a federal appeals court decision.
Trump shares a news story about an Emerson College poll, which found that more registered voters find the president’s statements to be truthful than they do media reports.
Americans are split on the question of whether Trump tells the truth, with 49 percent saying he is truthful while 48 percent said he is untruthful. This compares to 53 percent who believe the media is untruthful while 39 percent think the media is generally truthful.
Sharing this poll is part of Trump’s ongoing “war” with the media, which he consistently describes as “dishonest.” Trump, meanwhile, regularly makes statements that are demonstrably false.
Trump congratulates former Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions for his confirmation as his new attorney general.
The Senate confirmed Sessions in a 52-47 vote largely along party lines.
Feb. 7, 2017
Trump blasts his “haters” and claims he does not know Russian President Vladimir Putin, directly contradicting himself. Trump has repeatedly claimed to have met Putin, spoken with him, and had a “relationship” with the Russian president.
This tweet appears to come in response to criticism of Trump following his interview with Bill O’Reilly in which he equated the moral authority of the United States to that of Russia by saying that both nations are “killers.”
Trump tweets a photo of himself with members of the National Sheriffs’ Association. The law enforcement officers were at the White House to give the president a letter to thank him for his recent executive actions on immigration, which they said helped lift the burden of policing illegal immigration.
“State and local law enforcement have, in recent years, shouldered much of the burden associated with criminal illegal immigration and the subsequent impact on our communities,” reads the letter. “As you have recognized, our borders are not secure and we applaud your efforts to address this threat to our public safety.”
Trump condemns Democratic lawmakers for their attempts to stall confirmation votes for the president’s cabinet nominees.
While the number of cabinet members confirmed for Trump is low, other presidents have had a similar number of cabinet nominees through the confirmation process at this stage in a presidency.
Feb 6.
Trump declares “any negative polls are fake news.” The president’s baseless claim came 31 minutes after CNN aired a segment about its new poll that found Trump’s approval rating at 44 percent, a historic low.
As the third week of his presidency begins, Trump’s average approval rating sits at 45.7 percent, lower than any other new president in recent history.
In one of his oddest tweets to date, Trump asserts that he makes his “own calls” by “accumulating data.”
The tweet appears to be in response to a popular New York Times article published on Sunday evening, which claims, among other things, that Trump signed an executive order placing his controversial chief strategist, former Breitbart News executive Steve Bannon, on the National Security Council without being “fully briefed” on the order’s contents.
The tweet’s odd phrasing immediately sparked a new meme.
Trump directly criticizes the New York Times for “making up stories and sources.” The tweet appears to be in response to the aforementioned Times article detailing the inner workings of the Trump White House.
The notion that the Times is failing is, if nothing else, wildly misleading. In fact, the Times gained more digital subscribers in the past three months than in all of 2015. The growth pushed the publication to a record 3 million subscribers.
Trump tweets about his interview with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly. The president was criticized by Democrats and Republicans equating the U.S. with Russia. O’Reilly pushed back, asserting that Russian President Vladimir Putin is a “killer.”
“There are a lot of killers. You think our country’s so innocent?”
The Kremlin later demanded an apology from Fox News. O’Reilly declined.
Trump returns for the third time in the day to criticize the New York Times.
The Times has not apologized for any of its reporting.
Trump warns of the “threat of radical Islamic terrorism” amid a court battle over his controversial immigration executive order.
A Washington federal judge issued a nationwide stay on the executive order, which bars citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries from entering the U.S. for at least 90 days. The Department of Justice is currently fighting to have the restraining order lifted.
Feb. 5
It got plenty of buildup with his pre-leaked remarks about Russian President Vladimir Putin, but Trump wanted to remind you to watch him before the Super Bowl.
Though he was silent for most of Sunday, Trump came out blasting in the afternoon, continuing his attacks on the judicial system that has kept his immigration ban from being enforced.
With that pair of tweets, it seems as if Trump is building a case where any terrorist attack can now be blamed on a federal judge who ruled that Trump’s executive order was illegal. For those who believe Trump is trying to discredit one branch of government that provides him with checks and balances, this is another piece of evidence in favor of that idea.
Trump gets pumped about the Super Bowl. He rooted for the New England Patriots and predicted the team would win by eight points. They would go on to win by seven points.
Trump congratulates the Patriots for their major upset against the Atlanta Falcons. The Patriots 34-28 win is the largest comeback in Super Bowl history, and the game is the only Super Bowl game to go into overtime.
Feb. 4
The Trump administration was handed a major defeat Friday when a federal judge temporarily shut down his entire immigration ban, saying the U.S. government had argued that “we have to protect the U.S. from individuals from these countries, and there’s no support for that.”
Predictably, Trump was not happy with Judge James Robart’s decision, and he let us know early Saturday morning.
That last tweet has garnered the most attention in the minutes after Trump wrote about the “so-called judge.” Robart was nominated to the federal court by George W. Bush in 2003 and confirmed by the Senate 99-0.
Trump since has been blasted by pundits on both sides of the political aisle for his attack on the judicial branch of government.
As the New York Times basks in a plethora of new subscriptions, Trump went after the paper of record, with which he’s had a long-running feud.
The Times said this week that it had added 276,000 new digital subscriptions in the fourth quarter of 2016, its best quarter in six years. It also added 25,000 new hard-copy subscriptions.
As if we could forget, Trump randomly tweeted this.
After a day spent at his West Palm Beach, Florida golf club on Saturday, Trump continued his feistiness on Twitter in the afternoon.
That led a number of Twitter users to respond by sending Trump passages of books that explain the three branches of government and the concept of checks and balances.
About 40 minutes later, Trump tweeted again.
Trump continued …
Trump also provided a quick programming reminder for Super Bowl Sunday.
Feb. 3
Kicking off a busy morning of tweeting, Trump continues to attack Arnold Schwarzenegger, the host of The New Celebrity Apprentice and former governor of California.
The tweet follows Trump’s criticism of Schwarzenegger’s Apprentice during the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday. “I just want to pray for Arnold if we can, for those ratings,” Trump said. Trump is the former host of The Apprentice and The Celebrity Apprentice. He remains an executive producer on The New Celebrity Apprentice, which has apparently caused some to boycott the show.
Schwarzenegger responded by offering to switch jobs with the president.
For the second day in a row, Trump condemns Iran and says the Obama administration was “kind” to the Middle Eastern country.
The Treasury Department on Friday morning announced the imposition of new sanctions against 25 individuals and companies linked to Iran’s ballistic missile program. Trump National Security Adviser Michael Flynn put Iran “on notice” over the country’s recent ballistic missile tests.
Trump dismisses reports of a turbulent phone call he had with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull as “fake news.” Turnbull has refused to comment on the contents of the call, only refuting reports that the president hung up on him and saying it ended “courteously.”
Trump was reportedly frustrated with an Obama administration agreement to admit some 1,250 refugees now housed in camps on Australian territory. Despite this, the U.S. plans to stand by the deal.
Trump summarizes what his day holds, including meeting with business leaders for the signing of a number of executive orders related to financial regulations.
Following Trump’s tweet, the federal government announced that the U.S. added 227,000 jobs in January, easily beating the 175,000 jobs economists expected. The news was not entirely encouraging, however, as the unemployment rate rose slightly to 4.8 percent and wages only grew by 3 cents, which is only half of the wage growth in December.
Trump condemns “professional anarchists, thugs, and paid protesters” who’ve caused violence and vandalism at recent protests around the U.S. It is unclear who the paid protesters Trump mentions are or who is paying them.
Trump on Thursday threatened to pull federal funding for the University of California, Berkeley, after anti-fascist activists attacked several people and burned a tree on the school’s campus.
Trump denounces an attempted knife attack in Paris on Friday amid ongoing controversy over the president’s executive order banning refugees and immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations under the banner of national security. The attacker reportedly shouted, “Allahu akbar” (“God is great,” in Arabic), before rushing security personnel.
While Trump has regularly lamented terrorist attacks, he rarely mentions those carried out by non-Muslims. Trump’s tweet came under fire on Friday due to his lack of public comments condemning the recent mass murder of six Muslim worshippers at a mosque in Quebec City, Canada.
After a string of judicial defeats this week regarding his immigration ban, Trump, exactly a week after signing his executive order, is still trying to convince people why it’s a good idea.
Then, Trump pivoted back to trade.
Feb. 2
Trump threatens to pull federal funding from UC Berkeley after a protest against a speech by a controversial Breitbart editor turns violence. The president’s tweet falsely accuses the university—a bastion of free speech in modern American history—of disallowing free speech and condoning the violence that occurred on its campus, which the school condemned.
The instances of violence and vandalism at the protest were instigated by anti-fascist activists. Most of the 1,500 protesters, who came out in opposition to the appearance of alt-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos organized by the Berkeley College Republicans, were not violent and caused no destruction.
As the Washington Post points out, Trump published his tweet just moments after Fox News commentator Todd Starnes falsely implicated all the protesters and suggested Trump sign an executive order to withdraw funding from UC Berkeley.
Trump congratulations former Exxon-Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson for his confirmation as secretary of state.
Tillerson, whom some lawmakers criticized for his ties to Russia and President Vladimir Putin during his confirmation process, takes the helm of a State Department that has Trump dissenters within its ranks. Roughly 1,000 State Department employees have signed an internal grievance memo in opposition to Trump’s executive order suspending the U.S. refugee program and barring entry to the U.S. of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim nations.
In a speech later on Thursday, Tillerson addressed tensions within the department and vowed, “We are on the same team.”
Trump tweets about the dignified transfer ceremony of a U.S. Navy SEAL killed in a raid in Yemen reportedly ordered by the president.
Chief Petty Officer William “Ryan” Owens died from wounds sustained during a raid against al Qaeda, according to the U.S. military. Trump attended Owens’ dignified transfer ceremony unannounced on Wednesday.
Unnamed military and intelligence sources revealed to multiple news outlets that the raid resulted in the death of more than a dozen al Qaeda militants as well as women and children. U.S. Central Command said in a statement that it “concluded regrettably that civilian non-combatants were likely killed,” potentially including children.
Trump reiterates his national security adviser’s announcement on Wednesday that Iran had been put “on notice” for its test of ballistic missiles. Trump falsely claims in his tweets that Iran was on the verge of collapse before Iran agreed to curb its nuclear weapons program, nor did the country receive $150 billion, according to Ben Rhodes, who directly involved in the nuclear deal for the Obama administration.
Trump’s tweet is the first he’d spoken of the incident and signals heightening tensions between the U.S. and the Middle Eastern nation, which is also among the seven countries listed in Trump’s controversial travel ban.
Trump thanks Samsung for its potential plans to build a factory in the United States.
The president has made U.S. manufacturing jobs a public focus of his efforts as president during his first two weeks in office.
Feb. 1, 2017
In an uncharacteristic moment, Trump foregoes a fight over the characterization of his executive order on immigrants and refugees as a “ban.”
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer spent much of the day’s briefing arguing that the order was not a “ban” but a national security measure. Both Spicer and Trump had previously described the executive order as a “ban” on multiple occasions.
The executive order, dubbed a “Muslim ban” by its critics and a “travel ban” or “immigration ban” in the mainstream press, forbids entry of citizens from seven predominantly Muslim countries—Iran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria, and Yemen—for 90 days; suspends the U.S. refugee program for 120 days; and forbids entry of Syrian refugees indefinitely.Despite the order, the U.S. will reportedly admit 872 refugees given waivers by the State Department as they had already passed stringent security checks.
Trump warns that Iran is taking over portions of Iraq, something he says was “obvious long ago.”
Trump’s statement follows National Security Adviser Gen. Michael Flynn announcing from the White House on Thursday that the Trump administration was putting Iran “on notice” after it test-launched a ballistic missile. Flynn did not indicate whether he would the U.S. would take further action.
Trump calls an Obama-era agreement to take in 1,250 refugees from Australia “dumb” and promises to “study” it.
This tweet appears to come in response to a Washington Post scoop detailing a tumultuous call between Trump and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, which has raised tensions between the allied nations.
As of Thursday, the U.S. remained committed to the refugee deal, despite Trump’s recent executive order suspending the U.S. refugee program. It is not certain that all 1,250 refugees will pass security checks.
Jan. 31, 2017
Trump derides Democratic lawmakers for holding a protest on Monday night in opposition to the president’s executive order that halts the U.S. refugee program and bans immigrants from seven Muslim-majority nations for 90 days.
Trump is correct that the microphone did not work. Members of Congress used a bullhorn instead after a momentary delay.
Trump again complains about Democratic efforts to stall the confirmation of his cabinet members, including his nominee for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.)
The Democratic blockade would not survive another 24 hours.
Trump teases the announcement of his nominee to the Supreme Court. Many criticized Trump earlier in the day for treating the Supreme Court nomination process like a reality TV show after he invited two candidates to Washington in an attempt to build “suspense” over his pick.
Trump would go on to name Neil Gorsuch, a justice on the 10th Circuit Court of Appeals in Colorado. Gorsuch is seen as a conservative jurist who famously sided in favor of religious liberty in the 10th Circuit’s Hobby Lobby v. Sebelius decision.
Jan. 30, 2017
Trump defends his immigration executive order as necessary for U.S. national security and falsely blames a Delta Airlines computer outage for causing “big problems” related to his travel ban.
Trump also blames protesters and “the tears of Senator Schumer,” referring to the widespread protests at airports across the U.S. in response to Trump’s immigration ban and Democratic New York Sen. Chuck Schumer’s condemnation of the president’s actions.
Trump says he will announce his nominee for the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday at 8pm ET.
Trump has reportedly narrowed his list of Supreme Court justice nominees to three jurists, according to CNN: Neil Gorsuch, a judge at the federal appeals court in Colorado; William H. Pryor Jr. of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals; and Thomas Hardiman of the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals.
Trump criticizes Democrats and the media for not voicing outrage over the loss of jobs in the U.S.
Unemployment and the future of the U.S. economy is a regular topic for both the media and lawmakers of both parties. While Trump cites jobs “fleeing our country,” he does not address the steady decline in the unemployment rate since the height of the financial crisis nor the increasing role of automation in the declining availability of high-quality American jobs.
Trump’s tweet appears to be more of an attempt to deflect the conversation away from the widespread protests that have dogged his presidency than a substantial argument for any particular policy or conduct.
Trump exclaims that “the American dream is back,” along with a picture of him with several small business owners in the Oval Office.
Trump has made “America first” his presidency’s slogan, backed by negotiations with corporate CEOs to keep jobs in the U.S. and an executive order that aims to limit regulations on U.S. businesses.
Trump laments Democratic efforts to stall the confirmation of his cabinet nominees.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats boycotted committee votes for Trump’s nominee for Health and Human Services, Rep. Tom Price (R-Ga.), and Treasury secretary, Steve Mnuchin. They later blocked a committee vote for Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), Trump’s attorney general nominee.
The partisan battle followed the Trump administration’s firing of Sally Yates, the acting attorney general who ordered the Department of Justice to not defend Trump’s controversial immigration ban in court due to questions of constitutionality. Yates was appointed by the Obama administration.
Jan. 29, 2017
After a huge Saturday of controversy thanks to his immigration ban, Trump kicked off his Sunday morning with a response—to the New York Times, for some reason.
Though Trump didn’t address the immigration ban protests and criticism directly, he did try to defend himself into convincing people why the U.S. needs to bar all Syrian refugees and nationals from six other Muslim-majority countries.
Though only a handful of Republicans have publicly bashed Trump’s immigration ban, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) put out a joint statement Sunday in which they said, “It is clear from the confusion at our airports across the nation that President Trump’s executive order was not properly vetted. Such a harmful process risks harmful results … We should not turn our backs on those refugees who have been shown through extensive vetting to pose no demonstrable threat to our nation, and who have suffered unspeakable horrors, most of them women and children.”
Here was Trump’s Twitter response.
Trump issues a statement regarding his immigration ban, saying it is “similar to what President Obama did in 2011 when he banned visas for refugees from Iraq for six months.” Trump also rejected the characterization of his executive order as a “Muslim ban.”
In fact, Obama did not order a ban on visas for Iraqi refugees, although his administration appears to have greatly delayed the process in response to the 2013 arrest of two Iraqi men in Kentucky on terrorism charges. Trump’s order halting new visas for citizens from seven Muslim-majority nations is far broader in scope than Obama’s actions and does not appear to come as a result of any specific threat.
Here’s Trump’s full statement:
Trump promotes his interview with CBN News, a Christian news outlet, in which he discusses his immigration ban.
In the interview, Trump says he will be prioritizing Christian refugees from Syria. Trump’s executive order forbids the admittance of any refugees from Syria indefinitely. At least one Christian family from Syria has been turned away by Customs and Border Patrol.
Jan. 28, 2017
Less than 12 hours after signing an executive order banning citizens from seven Muslim countries from entering the U.S., Trump turned his attention back to the media early Saturday morning.
He apparently was so upset that he substituted the word “gas” for “has.”
Almost immediately, the New York Times responded back in a tweet, writing, “.@realDonaldTrump Fact check: @nytimes subscribers & audience at all-time highs. Supporting independent journalism matters.”
On the 31st anniversary of the Challenger disaster, Trump paid homage to the lost seven-person crew.
Jan. 27, 2017
Using what appears to be his unsecured Android device, Trump tweets about allegations of voter fraud, evidence of which he says will be provided by former GOP operative Gregg Phillips.
Phillips, a board member of the vote-verification group True the Vote, appears to be the source of Trump’s belief that he only lost the popular vote to Democrat Hillary Clinton because 3 million to 5 million people allegedly voted illegally, according to White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. Phillips told the Daily Beast that he may release the names of people he believes voted illegally.
Trump’s tweet about Phillips published 47 minutes after CNN aired an interview with Phillips.
Trump condemns Mexico for allegedly taking advantage of the United States. The tweet comes one day after Mexico’s president canceled a meeting with Trump amid rising tensions between the two leaders.
Mexico is one of America’s largest trading partners and is the second-largest importer of U.S. goods, according to the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR). Mexico imported $267.2 billion in American-made goods in 2015, while the U.S. imported $316.4 billion in goods from Mexico, a difference of $49.2 billion.
Earlier this week, Trump signed an executive order for the construction of a wall along the U.S.–Mexico border, the cost of which will be paid for in federal funds. Trump maintains that Mexico will pay for the wall, which President Enrique Peña Nieto has repeatedly denied.
Sean Spicer, the White House press secretary, suggested on Thursday that the U.S. could impose a 20 percent tax on all goods imported from Mexico—the cost of which will likely fall primarily on middle-class American consumers—to pay for the border wall’s construction.
This tweet was also published from an Android device.
Trump cheers on the March for Life, an annual pro-life rally taking place in Washington, D.C., on Friday. Vice President Mike Pence and Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway are scheduled to speak at the rally.
The March for Life comes six days after the Women’s March on Washington, held in repudiation of Trump’s presidency. Some conservatives characterized the march as a “pro-abortion” rally. While women’s health care was a key issue of the march, the event focused on a wide range of policy issues and it was not billed as a pro-choice event.
Trump did not comment on the Women’s March, which is said to have had one of the highest turnouts in U.S. history, until the day after the march, which included satellite events around the U.S. and the world. When he did comment on them, the president suggested that attendees did not vote.
Both March for Life tweets were posted using an iPhone and may have not been written or published by Trump himself.
Jan. 26, 2017
Trump criticizes whistleblower Chelsea Manning as an “ungrateful traitor” after she published an op-ed in the Guardian this morning.
Obama commuted Manning’s 35-year sentence in his last week in office; she is now slated for release on May 17. (She is unfazed by Trump’s criticism.)
But this tweet received particular attention from eagle-eyed readers for mimicking the exact language used by Fox News in an earlier segment.
Trump slams Mexico as taking advantage of a “one-sided deal” in the North American Free Trade Agreement.
Trump’s hatred of NAFTA was a large part of his campaign. “We will renegotiate NAFTA, and if we don’t get the deal we want, we will terminate NAFTA,” he said at a Pennsylvania rally last fall.
In response, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto did indeed cancel his meeting with the White House.
Trump speaks before the Republican Retreat in Philadelphia.
In the portion of his speech shared above, Trump boasts of his ability to thwart expectations by winning the presidential election, particularly in Pennsylvania, which was expected to go to his Democratic competitor, Hillary Clinton.
Trump tweets about his live interview with Fox News host Sean Hannity.
During the interview, Trump complained about inaccurate reporting, called Madonna “disgusting” for her remarks at the Jan. 21 Women’s March on Washington, and criticized Saturday Night Live as “terrible” after one of their writers made fun of his 10-year-old son, Barron.
Trump shares a news report about Miami’s mayor eliminating the city’s sanctuary policy toward undocumented immigrants.
Miami-Dade Mayor Carlos Gimenez on Wednesday ordered county jails to indefinitely detain undocumented immigrants on behalf of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Earlier in the day, Trump signed an executive order that cuts federal funding for cities that fail to comply with ICE demands.
Jan. 25, 2017
Trump calls for a “major investigation” into his allegations of widespread voter fraud in the American democratic process.
On Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer said Trump believes 3 million to 5 million people voted illegally in the 2016 election “based on studies and evidence people have presented to him.”
No verifiable evidence of widespread voter fraud has been surfaced, and the belief Trump holds is widely seen as a conspiracy theory.
Donald Trump teases his upcoming Supreme Court pick, saying he’ll make an announcement on Thursday, Feb. 2.
There has been a vacancy on the nation’s highest court since Justice Antonin Scalia’s death last February. Barack Obama had nominated Merrick Garland to the post, but it was blocked by Senate Republicans. Last May, Trump released a list of a dozen people he would consider for the position were he to be elected president, including Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett. It is unclear if his formal Supreme Court nominee will be one of the previously named 11.
Trump promotes his first one-on-one interview as president, conducted by ABC News anchor David Muir.
In the interview, Trump said construction of a U.S.–Mexico border wall would begin within “months.” Trump on Wednesday signed an executive order directing the Department of Homeland Security to begin construction of the wall.
Trump touts his border wall plan, posting a photo of himself signing the aforementioned executive order.
For his part, Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto reiterated that Mexico had no intention of paying for the wall, despite Trump’s repeated claims to the contrary.
Trump also reposted in its entirety his speech from the Department of Homeland Security, including saying “agents haven’t been allowed to properly do their jobs … But that’s all about to change.”
Jan. 24, 2017
For the second day in a row, Trump tweets out plans for a 9am meeting with business executives, this time with executives from the U.S. auto industry. He had a similar meeting on Monday with executives from a wide range of industries during which he promised deregulation but warned of penalties for companies that produce good outside the U.S.
In the hours after sending this tweet, Trump signed an executive order pulling the U.S. out of the Trans-Pacific Partnership, or TPP, a trade deal between the U.S. and 11 other countries agreed upon by the Obama administration. Trump said he would instead seek deals with individual countries that would allow him to pull out of the deal quickly “if somebody misbehaves.”
Trump appears to troll the White House press with a photo showing his inauguration crowd that is being hung in the press hall.
The size of Trump’s inauguration crowd has become a curious point of contention after White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer claimed in a combative briefing on Saturday evening that Trump had the “largest audience” of any inauguration in history, despite evidence to the contrary. Kellyanne Conway, a Trump adviser, later said that the White House was basing that assessment on “alternative facts.”
Notably, the photo Trump tweeted carries the date “Jan. 21, 2017.” Trump was inaugurated on Jan. 20.
Trump shares a photo of his 9am meeting with executives from the U.S. auto industry.
Trump shares a photo of him signing executive orders that clear the way for the contested Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines, two oil industry construction projects sidelined by the Obama administration after protests from environmental groups.
While the White House has cited job creation as a primary reason to allow the pipeline projects to move forward, they are expected to create just 55 new permanent jobs.
Trump shares an Associated Press video of Ford CEO Mark Fields and General Motors CEO Mary Barra, whom the president met with on Tuesday.
As Trump did with executives from other businesses on Monday, he warned of heavy import taxes on goods manufactured by U.S. companies abroad and promised eased regulations in return.
Trump cheers Fox News for having high ratings for Inauguration Day while claiming CNN, an outlet Trump has criticized as “fake news,” had lower ratings.
CNN, in response, tweeted to Trump that both cable news outlets saw 34 million television viewers while adding that it had an additional 16.9 million viewers on its livestream. However, CNN’s numbers are slightly misleading.
As Mediaite reports, Fox News saw a total of 8.77 million viewers from 11am to 4pm ET, the hours surrounding Trump’s inauguration ceremony, while CNN saw just 2.61 million total television viewers during the same time block. CNN’s tweet to Trump reflects total viewership on Inauguration Day.
Trump tweets that he will “send in the feds” if Chicago’s gun-violence epidemic does not subside. The tweet followed an O’Reilly Factor segment on violence in Chicago.
According to the Chicago Tribune, which maintains up-to-date numbers on gun violence in the Illinois city, at least 45 people were killed as a result of gun violence in the first 25 days of 2017.
Trump boasts of a big day for national security and hints at plans to move forward with construction of wall along the entirety of the U.S.–Mexico border, among other immigration and national security executive orders.
The tweet follows multiple reports that Trump planned to sign an executive order moving forward with the border wall on Wednesday.
Jan. 23, 2017
Trump begins his first full work day as president by tweeting about his upcoming meeting with American business leaders.
During the meeting, which included everyone from Tesla CEO Elon Musk to International Paper CEO Mark Sutton, Trump vowed to slash regulations seen as hurting businesses but threatened to impose harsh taxes on companies that send their jobs to foreign countries.
Jan. 22, 2017
Trump didn’t utter a word Saturday about the huge numbers protesting during the Women’s March on Washington, but he had something to say about them early Sunday morning.
Later, Trump offered a more conciliatory tweet.
Playing into the notion that size means everything to Trump, he tweeted out the TV ratings from his inauguration Saturday.
Though he notes that he beat the ratings from Barack Obama’s second inauguration, Trump didn’t mention that Obama’s first inauguration in 2009 drew 38 million viewers.
Despite receiving criticism for trashing reporters while standing in front of the sacred Memorial Wall during his meeting with the CIA on Saturday, Trump said his speech was well-received.
Jan. 21, 2017
A day after his inauguration, Trump was still in a celebratory mood, and even though many of the reviews of his speech described it as “misleading,” “militant” and “dark,” and “radical,” Trump apparently heard nothing but positive remarks.
Trump also retweeted the following message from the White House’s account.
Jan. 20, 2017
Inauguration Day has arrived. Trump shares the details, declaring “the work begins!”
Just minutes after taking the oath of office, President Trump sends out a series of tweets to his followers reiterating the populist pronouncements in his inauguration speech. The tweets are direct quotes from the speech.
It is unlikely Trump himself sent the tweets, which were probably scheduled to post as they went up in rapid succession.
Trump shares links to a trio of post on Facebook. The first reads, “It is time to remember that old wisdom our soldiers will never forget: that whether we are black or brown or white, we all bleed the same red blood of patriots!” The line is also from his inauguration speech.
The second post, also from his speech, reads, “So to all Americans, in every city near and far, small and large, from mountain to mountain, and from ocean to ocean, hear these words: You will never be ignored again!”
The third post of his speech quotes reads:
To Americans: You will never be ignored again. Your voice, your hopes and your dreams will define our American destiny. Your courage and goodness and love will forever guide us along the way.
Together we will make America strong again. We will make America wealthy again. We will make America proud again. We will make America safe again – and yes, together, WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!
The tweets were either scheduled or posted by a member of Trump’s staff as they went live while Trump was signing a series of documents officiating top-level officials, which took place on live television.
Jan. 19, 2017
The day before Trump’s inauguration, the president-elect shares a comment from Rev.Franklin Graham in which he argued that America was a divided country before Trump’s candidacy and election.
“It wasn’t Donald Trump that divided this country,” Graham told Fox & Friends. “This country has been divided for a long time, and we do need to come together and we need to pray today now more than ever. … Only God can fix this country.”
Trump has vowed to be a president for all Americans and contests the notion that he is a divisive figure.
Minutes after posting the tweet about Graham, Trump says he was preparing to head to Washington, where 26 hours later he would be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.
Trump shares a link to a livestream of the traditional wreath-laying ceremony at the Arlington National Ceremony, the first of Trump’s inauguration events.
Trump reminds his followers of the “Make America Great Again! Welcome Ceremony” outside the Lincoln Memorial. The event features performances from Toby Keith and 3 Doors Down.
Trump also shares a livestream of the event.
Jan. 18, 2017
Trump tells the world that he’s about to appear on Fox & Friends.
During the interview, Trump brushed off Democratic lawmakers’ plans to boycott his inauguration following the president-elect’s dustup with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who called Trump illegitimate due to U.S. intelligence reports that Russia meddled in the presidential election to help him win.
Trump also said that he doesn’t like tweeting—something he has done more than 34,000 times—but feels compelled to in order to respond to negative media reports and opinions.
“Look, I don’t like tweeting. I have other things I could be doing,” Trump said. “But I get very dishonest media, very dishonest press, and it’s my only way that I can get out and correct.”
In the ongoing debate over who’s actually creating U.S. jobs, Trump calls out NBC News, apparently for reporting that corporations are framing their hiring plans around Trump.
A growing list of companies, including General Motors and Walmart, have announced—or, in some cases, re-announced—plans to expand or maintain their U.S. workforces now that Trump is in office.
As a follow-up, Trump complained about NBC’s Today show, which aired discussion of the NBC News report casting doubt on Trump’s role in the creation of U.S. jobs.
Trump’s implication that Today‘s viewership is tanking is incorrect. As CNN reports, the morning show remains the top program in the advertiser-coveted 24-50 age demographic, and sits just 100,000 viewers behind Good Morning America across all age groups.
Trump thanks the Alabama Band for their performance at the Chairman’s Global Dinner in Washington, D.C., on Tuesday night. The black-tie affair is meant to introduce foreign diplomats and ambassadors to Trump’s cabinet nominees and other officials in the Trump administration.
The president-elect’s highlighting of the Alabama Band comes just two days ahead of Trump’s inauguration, an event that has struggled to draw A-list performers due to widespread anti-Trump sentiment.
Trump tweets a photo of himself in which, he says, he is writing his inauguration speech. It is relatively rare for Trump’s tweets to include photos of himself.
Trump has said that his self-authored speech will be “short.”
Trump sends well wishes to former President George H.W. Bush and First Laday Barbara Bush, who were taken into the hospital on Wednesday. They are both reportedly recovering.
Trump tweets a photo of himself with singer Lee Greenwood and his wife, Kimberly, a former Miss Tennessee USA. Greewood, who wrote the hit song “God Bless the U.S.A.,” is performing at Trump’s inauguration.
Trump thanks members of the Wounded Warriors Project, a veterans charity.
The Wounded Warriors Project came under fire last year for using donor money in ways seen as lavish and unnecessary, a scandal that reportedly made Trump question donating to the group. The organization is now under new leadership.
Jan. 17, 2017
With just three days before his inauguration, Trump claims a historic number of people are “pouring into Washington.”
This tweet deflects from news that more than 40 Democratic lawmakers have boycotted Trump inauguration over his spat with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), a famed leader of the Civil Rights Movement, and more than 200,000 people are expected to attend the Women’s March on Washington protest against Trump. Only a fraction of that is expected to attend the inauguration itself.
Trump slams a trio of polls showing his approval rating at historic lows as “rigged.”
In fact, an average of the national election polls aligned exactly with the popular vote, which Trump lost to Democrat Hillary Clinton by 2.1 percent while securing wins in enough states to secure victory in the Electoral College. There is no evidence to support Trump’s claim that any of the polls were “rigged.”
Trump takes credit for creating jobs before becoming president.
In total, Trump has claimed or implied responsibility for creating 11,430 jobs. Of those, 730 were saved as a direct result of Trump’s actions.
Trump continues his spat with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), claiming he was either mistaken or lying when the congressman said Trump’s inauguration was the first one he has boycotted.
The “WP” at the end of his second tweet appears to be a reference to a Washington Post article from 2001 that reports Lewis also skipped former President George W. Bush’s inauguration.
Lewis, who sparked Trump’s anger after saying he didn’t think he was a legitimate president, admitted after Trump’s tweets that he was “wrong” to say he had not boycotted any other inaugurations.
More more than 40 Democratic members of Congress, including Lewis, have vowed to boycott Trump’s inauguration ceremony.
Following Trump’s claim that approval polls showing Trump with a historically low favorability rating are “rigged,” the president-elect tweets a Breitbart News column condemning the media for failing to predict Trump’s election victory.
Trump’s chief strategist, Steve Bannon, is the former executive chairman of Breitbart.
Trump thanks General Motors and Walmart for increasing their U.S. workforces.
GM announced Tuesday that it would invest $1 billion in its U.S. operations, saving or creating 1,500 jobs. Walmart also announced it would add 10,000 new jobs to stores in the U.S.
Trump retweets Eva Moskowitz, the CEO of New York City-based Success Academy Charter Schools, who praised Trump’s education secretary nominee, Betsy DeVos.
DeVos is an outspoken proponent of charter schools and the ability for families to pick which schools their children attend. As such, she has drawn criticism from public school advocates and teachers unions.
DeVos faces her confirmation hearing before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee at 5pm ET on Tuesday.
Trump retweets his son, Eric Trump, who shared an image of Golf Digest’s new issue, which dubs the president-elect “golfer-in-chief.”
Trump owns multiple golf courses around the world, including one in Scotland that he reportedly plans to expand after saying the Trump Organization would not seek any new foreign deals during Trump’s time in office.
Jan. 16, 2017
Early on Martin Luther King Day, Trump calls on Americans to honor the civil rights leader for “the great man he was.”
The tweet comes just two days after Trump took heat for criticizing Georgia Rep. John Lewis, a leader of the civil rights movement who was an ally of King’s.
Trump breaks his Twitter silence to retweet a supporter who praised him for his use of the social network. Trump added, “Very dishonest media!”
The tweet comes amid reports that Trump’s team may move the White House press corps to a separate space, alarming journalists. Trump’s incoming press secretary, Sean Spicer, claims the potential move is to allow more journalists to cover White House press conferences than the current space allows.
Trump tells the world that CNN is airing a special about his daughter, Ivanka Trump.
CNN has long been a target of Trump’s ire, but he increased the frequency of attacks after the outlet reported that U.S. intelligence officials had briefed Trump on an unverified but explosive dossier alleging that Russia holds compromising information about Trump.
Soon after the first tweet about CNN’s special on Ivanka Trump, the president-elect tweeted at a different Ivanka.
The woman, Ivanka Majic of the United Kingdom, responded by asking Trump to be more careful and to reconsider his position on climate change.
Jan. 15, 2017
With Trump’s inauguration just days away, the president-elect ensures the event will be bigger than expected.
Trump’s tweet does not make clear who expected the size of his inauguration crowd or what that original expectation was. However, the tweet does follow news that Washington, D.C., has granted permits for some 1,200 buses to transport people to the anti-Trump Women’s March on Washington protest while just 393 buses have gotten permits for the inauguration itself.
Trump claims he knows what makes Democrats “most angry” about his presidency. He also claims that U.S. companies will have to make their products in America “if they want to do business in our country.”
Trump has repeatedly criticized U.S. automakers for plans to build production plants in Mexico and often laments the production of goods made in China for the U.S. market. Meanwhile, Trump’s businesses have manufactured products in at least 12 other countries, including Mexico and China.
Without a hint of irony, Trump bemoans the division, anger, and mistrust in the American electorate and claims it will “change.”
Trump regularly uses divisive language about Democrats and other “enemies,” Muslims, and immigrants. His campaign rallies became hotbeds of violence perpetrated by both supporters and protesters. And he regularly sows doubt in the media, which he consistently refers to as “dishonest.”
Trump continues to rail against the unconfirmed dossier, compiled by a former British intelligence agent, regarding Russia’s alleged gathering of compromising information about the president-elect.
In this instance, he quotes journalist Bob Woodward of Watergate fame, who said on Fox News Sunday that the “garbage document” should have “never have been presented … as part of an intelligence briefing.” A summary of the documents (but not the report itself) was given to Trump, as well as President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden.
In condemning the document, Trump has criticized CNN, which reported that U.S. intelligence officials told Trump about the 35-page dossier, and BuzzFeed, which first published the documents themselves.
Notably, one of the authors of the CNN report is Carl Bernstein, Woodward’s partner in revealing the truth about the Watergate Hotel break-in that helped topple President Richard Nixon.
Trump predictably criticizes NBC and Saturday Night Live following Alec Baldwin’s cold-open in which he mocks Trump over his recent press conference as well as salacious claims in the unverified dossier. The documents detail “perverted” sex acts Trump allegedly took part in at a Moscow hotel.
Trump criticizes outgoing CIA Director John Brennan and suggests that he leaked the Russian-dirt dossier to the press.
Brennan condemned Trump on Fox News Sunday for his tweets and what Brennan characterized as a failure to understand the issues he faces, including threats from Russia. “I don’t think he has a full understanding of Russian capabilities and the actions they are taking on the world,” Brennan said. He added, “Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down.”
Brennan called on Trump to be “disciplined” in order to face threats against the U.S.
Trump’s tweet also implies that Crimea, a region in the Ukraine that Russia has attempted to take over, is not part of Ukraine. Trump’s team reportedly weakened the Republican Party stance against Russia’s involvement in Crimea during the party’s convention last summer.
Trump has been consistently criticized for his cordiality toward Russia and President Vladimir Putin.
Jan. 14, 2017
Faced with Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) saying Friday that he didn’t believe Trump was a legitimate president, Trump opened his weekend by blasting the 16-term Congressman and longtime civil rights activist. Lewis, it should be noted, was a long-time ally of Martin Luther King, whose birthday America is celebrating this weekend.
Continuing to face questions about what role the Russians played in the 2016 election, Trump cited right-leaning One America News in asserting that it was a “complete fraud.”
Trump doubles down on his criticism of Rep. John Lewis after the lawmaker called him “illegitimate.”
Trump’s feud with Lewis, a civil rights leader who marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., has led to an increased number of Democratic lawmakers boycotting Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Jan. 13, 2017
At 5:49am ET, Trump begins his morning tweets with by clarifying that his cabinet nominees don’t have to agree with him.
The tweet follows days of Senate confirmation hearings for Trump’s cabinet nominees, some of whom expressed views that contradict Trump on key issues.
Trump continues to condemn a dossier of unverified information regarding Russia and the president-elect. The dossier, which dominated headlines this week, was compiled by a former British intelligence offier, Christopher Steele, who now runs an opposition research firm.
Steele has reportedly gone into hiding now that he has been outed as the author of the documents, which detail salacious and troubling allegations regarding Trump. Steele reportedly prepared the documents for at least one of Trump’s Republican opponents in the presidential primary.
Following this tweet, Trump once again blames U.S. intelligence for leaking the unconfirmed Russia documents. The allegation comes less than two days after Director of National Intelligence James Clapper told Trump in a private conversation that members of the U.S. intelligence community were likely not behind the leak of the documents, which have been circulating among members of the media since last year.
It is not immediately clear what “hacking” Trump is referencing in the second tweet.
Trump calls Hillary Clinton, whom he defeated in the 2016 presidential election more than two months prior, “guilty as hell” in reference to her use of a private email system during her time as secretary of state. The FBI cleared Clinton and her team of criminal mishandling of classified information last July.
The latest criticism of Clinton appears to stem from the Department of Justice inspector general launching an investigation into the FBI‘s actions ahead of the 2016 election to find out if they were politically motivated. FBI Director James Comey‘s letter to members of Congress regarding newly discovered Clinton emails, sent just 11 days before the election, is believed to have contributed to Clinton’s election defeat.
Trump makes a pun as part of his ongoing campaign against the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
Republican senators voted around 1am on Thursday morning to begin to dismantle the 2010 health care bill. The Republican lawmakers rejected Democratic proposals that would have ensured key portions of Obamacare remained intact, including the pre-existing condition statute and the protection of crucial health care for women.
Following the funeral of an NYPD officer, Trump reasserts his commitment to support law enforcement.
Trump has long vowed that he would return to a policy of “law and order,” contrasting himself with the Obama administration, which has focused on criminal justice reform and other policies not emphasized by Trump.
Jan. 12, 2017
Trump confirms a conversation with Director of National Intelligence James Clapper regarding an unverified dossier of documents that claim Russia has compromised the president-elect.
Clapper released a statement regarding the conversation on Wednesday evening in which he refuted Trump’s allegations that members of the intelligence community were behind the leaked document. Clapper did not call the documents’ contents false in his statement.
Trump thanks Linda Bean of the family that founded the L.L. Bean company for her support. A longtime Republican donor, Bean came under fire from Trump-boycott movement #GrabYourWallet after the Associated Press reported that Bean donated $60,000 to the pro-Trump Making America Great Again LLC, well above the $5,000 limit for personal donations.
Bean later, on Fox & Friends, called her critics “hard-core bullies out on the West Coast.”
In a statement posted on Facebook, L.L. Bean Executive Chairman Shawn Gorman distanced himself from Bean and asserted that “L.L.Bean does not endorse political candidates, take positions on political matters, or make political contributions. Simply put, we stay out of politics.” Gorman called the boycott against his company “misguided.”
Trump again criticizes CNN as “fake news” for reporting that U.S. intelligence officials briefed him on the allegations in the unconfirmed documents regarding his relationship with Russia. Trump attacked the news outlet during a press conference on Wednesday, refusing to answer a question from CNN’s Jim Acosta because, Trump said, “You are fake news.”
CNN first reported on the briefing on Thursday but did not publish the unverified documents, as BuzzFeed News did a few hours after CNN’s initial report. The news outlet has stood by its reporting on the matter.
Trump praises Senate Republicans for voting to begin the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, better known as Obamacare.
In a 51-48 party-line vote at 1am ET Thursday morning, Republican lawmakers passed a budget blueprint for 2017 that puts into motion the legislative mechanisms for repealing the 2010 health care law. Some Republican lawmakers have voiced concern that they lack a viable replacement. Without replacing Obamacare, some 30 million Americans could lose their health insurance.
House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) said the House would vote on the measure on Friday.
Jan. 11, 2017
Trump further responds to the release of unverified documents purporting that Russia’s government possesses compromising information on him. The president-elect characterized the documents as a “complete and total fabrication” and claimed were leaked by his “crooked opponents.”
Trump will hold a press conference at 11am ET on Wednesday, where he is expected to further address the unsubstantiated documents.
Jan. 10, 2017
Trump tweets a Bloomberg story about how the U.S. Small-Business Optimizim Index jumped by the biggest margin in more than three decades.
The National Federation of Independent Business’s index, which measures the mood of small-business owners, rose 7.4 points in December to 105.8 points, its highest level since 2004. Of the 619 small-business owners surveyed for the index, 50 percent expected a more favorable environment for business under Trump, a 38-point jump since November.
Several hours after the first tweet of the day, Trump shares CNBC’s story about the optimism of small-business owners.
Trump’s relative silence on Twitter comes amid a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing regarding the confirmation of his pick for attorney general, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.). Sessions was one of the first sitting senators to endorse Trump and has helped guide his policies on immigration, policing, and national security, among other issues.
For the third time on Tuesday, Trump tweeted the story about a boost in optimism among small-business owners following his election victory.
This particular tweet links to Trump’s Facebook page, where he shared Fox Business’ version of the report he first shared Tuesday morning.
Trump defends himself against an unverified report that the president-elect and his team colluded with Russia’s government, which allegedly has information it could use to “blackmail” him, including evidence of depraved sex acts with prostitutes.
The unsubstantiated report was allegedly compiled by a former British intelligence operative, and U.S. intelligence officials have reportedly shared with Trump and President Barack Obama. It was published in full by BuzzFeed News on Tuesday evening.
Mother Jones reporter David Corn originally exposed the unverified report—but did not publish in full—in October.
Trump also retweeted Michael Cohen, executive vice president of the Trump Organization, who was accused in the report of coordinating with Russian operatives in August 2016. Trump also shared a story casting doubt on the BuzzFeed story.
Trump has a press conference scheduled for Wednesday where he likely faces a barrage of questions regarding the Russia report.
Jan. 9, 2017
Trump praises media mogul Rupert Murdoch as a “great guy” who has long supported him.
A recent shakeup of on-air talent at Fox News, owned by Murdoch’s News Corp., has been portrayed as an effort to be more pro-Trump. Conservative pundit Tucker Carleson will take over for Megyn Kelly, who recently departed Fox News for NBC. New York magazine’s Gabriel Sherman, who has long reported on Fox News, painted the promotion of Carleson as part of the cable news network’s plan to become “Trump TV.”
Trump insults Meryl Streep after the actress condemned the president-elect during her acceptance speech for the Cecil B. DeMille Award at the Golden Globes on Sunday night.
Streep highlighted Trump’s portrayal of reporter Serge Kovaleski, who has arthrogryposis, a disease that affects the joints. During a November 2015 campaign rally, Trump appeared to mock the journalist after Kovaleski challenged Trump’s claim that “thousands” of Muslims in New Jersey celebrated the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“Now, the poor guy—you ought to see the guy: ‘Uh, I don’t know what I said. I don’t remember,’” Trump said while crooking his arms, shaking them, and disfiguring his face. Trump later claimed that he didn’t know Kovaleski and was unaware of his disability.
Trump praises Fiat Chrysler for its plan to invest $1 billion in its Michigan and Ohio manufacturing plants. Since last week, Trump has tweeted about General Motors, Ford, and Toyota.
On Sunday, the Associated Press reported that Fiat Chrysler plans to build three new Jeep vehicles, including a Jeep pickup truck, between its Michigan and Ohio plants. The investment is expected to create 2,000 jobs, the company says.
Trump shares a picture of himself meeting late President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan. It is unclear what year the photo was taken.
Trump famously used Reagan’s 1980 campaign slogan, “Make America great again,” as his own rallying cry. Few say Trump’s policies mirror those Reagan championed.
Trump thanks America’s police officers “who protect & serve our communities 24/7/365” for Law Enforcement Appreciation Day.
Trump has vowed to be a “law and order” president. The president-elect received an endorsement from the Fraternal Order of Police, the largest police union in the U.S., ahead of November’s election.
Jan. 8, 2017
Trump cheers former President George W. Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush’s plans to attend his inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump adviser Kellyanne Conway was briefly featured on NBC’s Meet The Press on Sunday, and Trump is not happy about how it went down.
But CNN’s Brian Stelter tweeted this.
Which then caused Conway to reply with this.
Trump continues to push back against leaks to the press, reiterating that NBC News published a story about the U.S. intelligence community’s classified report about Russia’s interference in the U.S. election before he (“or anyone,” he says) had a chance to review it. Trump has asked Congress to investigate the leak of classified material to NBC.
NBC published its report Thursday night, after President Barack Obama’s national security team briefed him on the report. It is not clear whether the two U.S. officials who provided NBC with information about the report did so before Obama’s briefing, as Trump’s tweet implies.
The Office of the Director of National Intelligence released its declassified version of the report on Friday, following Trump’s classified briefing. The report accuses Russian President Vladimir Putin of ordering campaigns to sow distrust in the U.S. democratic process, hurt Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, and “help” Trump win the election through cyberattacks, leaks, and propaganda efforts.
Trump accuses the media of being “dishonest” for portraying his plan to have U.S. taxpayers front the cost of his wall on the U.S.–Mexico border as a broken campaign promise.
Trump has asked Congress to fund construction of the border wall, the cost of which Trump claims Mexico will reimburse the U.S. The details of how Trump will negotiate the repayment remain unclear.
Jan. 7, 2017
Continuing his argument from the day before, when the U.S. intelligence community released a report saying Russian President Vladimir Puting wanted to harm Hillary Clinton and help Donald Trump win the presidency, Trump said the election wasn’t affected because the voting booths weren’t touched.
While the U.S. intelligence report did not address the potential effects of what it characterized as Russia’s “influence campaigns” against the American presidential election, it did claim that Russians attempted to hack into voting machines in multiple states but did not change any ballots.
Also, Trump’s assertion that the “only reason” anyone is discussing the hack against the Democratic National Committee is because Clinton lost the election is false. The cyberattack was widely discussed before Election Day.
Trump congratulates Jane Timken on becoming chair of the Ohio Republican Party.
Timken, whom Trump favored, narrowly beat incumbet chair Matt Borges after two votes failed to pick a candidate. Ohio Gov. John Kasich, one of Trump’s rivals in the Republican presidential primary, backed Borges, who criticized Trump during the election.
Trump says he’s eager to meet with British Prime Minister Theresa May, who rose to power after the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union last year.
The U.K. “Brexit” from the E.U. was widely seen as a populist reaction that foreshadowed Trump’s presidential victory.
The president-elect’s meeting with May is not without its tensions, however; on Sunday, May said Trump’s remarks about groping women were “unacceptable.”
Jan. 6, 2016
Trump calls the media “dishonest” for not reporting that, according to Trump, Mexico will reimburse the U.S. for the cost of a “Great Wall” along America’s southern border.
Trump’s tweet follows media reports that his transition team has requested Congress fund construction of the wall through the appropriations process. Having American taxpayers front the cost of the wall has been characterized as Trump breaking his promise that Mexico would pay for the wall, one of his most prominent and repeated claims on the campaign trail.
Two months after the election, Trump tweets about the moment he knew he would beat Democrat Hillary Clinton.
Trump calls on his supporters to attend his inauguration in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 20. He promises it will be a “great show.”
The inauguration events have been overshadowed by reports that high-profile entertainers have refused to perform at the event. More importantly, over 170,000 people have committed to attend the “Women’s March on Washington” protest against Trump’s presidency. Hundreds of thousands more may attend.
Trump ridicules the low ratings for the new season of Celebrity Apprentice, a reality TV show Trump formerly hosted and for which he remains an executive producer.
The New Celebrity Apprentice is hosted by former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Ratings among the 18-49 demographic for The New Celebrity Apprentice are half of the 2014 version.
In response to Trump, Schwarzenegger tweeted that he hopes Trump works “for ALL the American people as aggressively as you worked for your ratings.”
Trump tweets that he will be meeting with editors of Vogue after its Editor-in-Chief Anna Wintour asked him to.
The tweet follows a Politico report from Thursday that Trump would meet with Wintour and Vanity Fair editor Graydon Carter, a longtime rival of Trump’s who dubbed him a “short-fingered vulgarian” in Spy Magazine in 1988.
Trump calls for Congress to investigate the sharing of classified information with NBC News.
NBC News on Thursday reported on a classified intelligence report regarding Russia and cyberattacks against Democratic entities. The NBC report was based on information provided by two U.S. officials who had “direct knowledge” of the intelligence report’s contents. Trump said a tweet on Thursday evening that the officials shared the information due to “politics.”
Trump’s request for an investigation marks his strongest move to date against leaks to the press.
Trump tweets that he’s “monitoring” the aftermath of a mass shooting at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport.
The shooting left multiple dead and more injured. Few details about the shooter, identified as 26-year-old Esteban Santiago.
Trump wishes his third-eldest child, Eric Trump, a happy birthday. In an accompanying Facebook post, Trump said he was “very proud of him.”
Eric Trump, vice president of the Trump Organization, turned 33 on Friday.
Trump claims “gross negligence” on the part of the Democratic National Committee is the reason the organization was hacked and had its emails leaked.
The U.S. intelligence committee released a declassified report on Friday claiming the Russian government orchestrated cyberattacks against Democratic Party organizations and operatives in order to hurt Hillary Clinton (and, ultimately, help Trump). It also stated that the Russians attempted to infiltrate the Republican National Committee but did not succeed. Trump’s tweet is likely in reference to a Wall Street Journal article that said the Russian hackers were “less aggressive and much less persistent” in ther attacks on the RNC.
Jan. 5, 2017
Amid an ongoing fight over the future of Obamacare, Trump criticizes Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) for his attempts to keep the health care legislation alive. The president-elect called for a bipartisan effort to replace the Affordable Care Act with something “much less expensive & far better.”
Schumer had begun using the phrase “Make America sick again” to describe the Republican effort to repeal Obamacare, a play on Trump’s “Make America great again” campaign slogan.
Trump tweets that the media is “wrong” to interpret his tweets quoting Julian Assange as support for the WikiLeaks founder. Instead, he says, he shared it for “the people to make up their own minds as to the truth.”
Trump adds that he is a “big fan” of the U.S. intelligence community, which he has openly criticized since it reported that Russia carried out attacks against the Democratic Party and high-profile players. Assange has denied that Russia’s government is the source of thousands of emails stolen during those hacks.
Trump calls out Toyota, a Japanese auto maker with a large share of the U.S. market, for planning to build a plant in Mexico. The president-elect says he’ll levy a “big border tax” against Toyota vehicles imported into the U.S. unless the company builds a plant in America.
The tweet echoes a similar strategy used against Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and General Motors. Mirroring the effects on these companies’ market value, Toyota’s stock price fell 0.7 percent following Trump’s tweet.
Trump tweets that “politics” is the reason NBC News gained access to a classified report regarding U.S. intelligence laying out evidence that Russia’s government carried out cyberattacks and leaks against the Democratic Party and nominee Hillary Clinton.
NBC News did not base its report on the classified material itself but on two officials “with direct knowledge of the report,” which also details cyberattacks against the White House. A public version of the report is expected as early as Friday.
Trump references a BuzzFeed News scoop about FBI investigators not requesting access to Democratic National Committee servers. Instead, BuzzFeed News reported, the FBI relied on forensic data from CrowdStrike, a private cybersecurity firm the DNC hired to investigate intrusion into its networks.
A DNC spokesman told BuzzFeed News that the FBI “never requested access to the DNC’s computer servers.” A senior FBI official later refuted this account to Wired. “The FBI repeatedly stressed to DNC officials the necessity of obtaining direct access to servers and data, only to be rebuffed until well after the initial compromise had been mitigated,” the FBI official said.
However, sources tell NBC News reporter Ken Dilanian that FBI investigators “didn’t need access to the DNC” servers because they had forensic data from upstream collection, which means they would be able to see exactly what happened on the DNC’s system.
Despite the air of malpractice bolstered by Trump’s tweets and the conflicting reports on the details, it is common for the FBI to rely on third-party data collection in cyber investigations and by no means suggests investigators lacked the evidence they needed to make a conclusion on who hacked the DNC.
Jan. 4, 2017
Trump tweets about WikiLeaks‘ founder Julian Assange, who appeared on Fox News the night before in an hour-long interview with host Sean Hannity.
During the interview, which largely rehashed covered ground, Assange repeated his assertion that Russia’s government did not provide WikiLeaks with emails stolen from the Democrats. He also claims that a “14-year-old could have hacked” Hillary Clinton’s campaign chairman, John Podetsta. (This is, theoretically, true; Podesta was hacked with a convincing but unsophisticated spearphishing email.)
Assange also echoed Trump’s complaints about American media being “dishonest.”
Trump thanks Ford for canceling the construction of a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico and instead investing $700 million in its Flat Rock, Michigan plant and creating 700 new jobs.
Ford CEO Mark Fields told CNBC on Tuesday that the move was largely due to market demand. Fields had praised Trump’s support for “pro-growth policies” in announcing the maneuver.
Trump returns to the DNC hacking scenario to claim the Democrats had worse security measures in place than the Republican National Committee.
The RNC, which was also reportedly targeted with spearphishing emails, did not fall victim to embarrassing hacks and leaks of tens of thousands of emails. U.S. officials told the Wall Street Journal in December that the RNC had better security measures in place than their Democratic counterparts, although the exact details of those security measures are unclear.
Trump warns Republicans to let the Democrats “own” Obamacare failures. He cites the changing costs of health insurance premiums and high deductibles under the Affordable Care Act in some states as a major reason for the system’s downfall.
Trump’s tweets follow Senate Republicans’ introduction of a budget resolution designed to repeal Obamacare through the budget reconciliation process.
Trump touts a spike in album sales for Jackie Evancho, a former America’s Got Talent star who will sing the national anthem at Trump’s inaguration on Jan. 20.
Trump’s tweet follows the publication of a Breitbart article entitled “Jackie Evancho’s Album Sales Skyrocket After Announcing Inauguration Performance.” Evancho’s Christmas album, Someday at Christmas, remains number one on the Billboard Classical Albums chart. The album is currently at number 134 on the Billboard 200 chart, down from 93 the week before.
A number of high-profile entertainers have refused to perform at Trump’s swearing-in ceremony or the accompanying inaugural balls. In a Dec. 22, 2016, tweet, Trump mocked “so-called ‘A’ list celebrities” he said wanted “tixs to the inauguration.”
Jan. 3, 2017
Following similar tweets in weeks prior that targeted Boeing and Lockheed Martin for expensive aircraft projects for the U.S. government, Trump criticized General Motors for importing vehicles manufactured in Mexico. The tweet sent GM’s stock price plummeting. GM responded by saying that all of its Chevy Cruze sedans sold in the U.S. are manufactured in Ohio, while “a small number” of Cruze hatchbacks are sold in the U.S.
Roughly 15 minutes after criticizing General Motors, Trump laments the price increases endured by Americans enrolled in the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, in some states. The changes in price for insurance under Obamacare differs from state to state. Trump has vowed to eliminate most, if not all, of Obamacare as president.
Breaking with fellow Republicans in the House, Trump calls out the timing of a vote by GOP lawmakers that would gut the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent watchdog tasked with investigating members of Congress. House Republicans later backed off efforts to weaken the OCE.
Trump retweets Dan Scavino, the president-elect’s social media director, who shared a Fox News story about Ford canceling the construction of a $1.6 billion plant in Mexico.
The automaker will instead invest $700 million in its assembly plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, where workers will build a number of new vehicles, including “autonomous vehicles for ride-hailing or ride-sharing.”
Ford CEO Mark Fields linked the company’s decision to “pro-growth policies” lauded by Trump and promised by Republicans in Congress. “We believe these tax and regulatory reforms are necessary to boost U.S. competitiveness,” Fields said.
Trump previously claimed credit for the creation of U.S. jobs by companies including Sprint and Carrier.
Trump shares an Instagram post claiming his administration will make America a “magnet” for “INNOVATION & JOB CREATION.”
Trump tweets that no more prisoners should be released from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
The U.S. currently imprisons 59 detainees at Guantanamo—55 of whom have been there for 10 years or more—down from a high of over 800 under President George W. Bush. Trump said during his campaign that he plans to “load it up with some bad dudes.”
Trump shares a Jan. 1 New York Post article giving him credit for creating thousands of jobs. Some of those jobs, including 5,000 from Sprint, were announced before Trump’s election.
Trump announces a “general news conference” scheduled for Wednesday, Jan. 11 in New York City, his first since the Nov. 8 election.
Trump has come under fire from members of the media for his lack of formal press conferences. He has taken reporters’ questions on multiple occasions. The Jan. 11 press conference will take place just over a week before Trump’s inauguration on Jan. 20.
Trump once again questions the U.S. intelligence community, which publicly concluded that Russia’s government coordinated cyberattacks against Democratic Party organizations and high-profile operatives.
Trump agreed to meet with U.S. intelligence leadership following Obama administration reprisals—which included sanctions against nine Russian entities and officials and the ejection of 35 Russian intelligence diplomats from the U.S.—over Russia’s alleged attempts to tamper with the American presidential election.
U.S. intelligence officials, reportedly including FBI Director James Comey, Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, NSA Director Adm. Michael Roger, and Central Intelligence Agency John Brennan had reportedly planned to meet Trump on Friday, not before, as his tweet implies.
U.S. intelligence agencies agree that civilian and military Russian intelligence carried out information warfare campaigns against the Democratic National Committee and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton‘s campaign manager, John Podesta. Independent assessments by cybersecurity experts say the U.S. intelligence community needs to release more information to prove Russia’s involvement. U.S. intelligence agencies have reportedly withheld details to protect sources and detection methods.
Jan. 2, 2017
Trump claims the U.S. will not let North Korea complete construction of a nuclear weapon capable of reaching American soil. About 40 minutes later, Trump criticized China for its lack of “help” with regards to North Korea. China is North Korea’s largest trade partner.
Kim Jong-un, North Korea’s leader, said in his annual New Year’s Day speech that the country would continue to pursue its capabilities for “pre-emptive strikes” if the U.S. does not halt its military exercises with South Korea. In a statement released prior to Trump’s tweets, the Pentagon said it would “use every available channel and means of influence” in an attempt to convince Pyongyang to not use ballistic missiles.
Nearly two months after Election Day, Trump criticizes media outlets for doubting that he could have won the presidency. He cites the Clinton campaign’s cancellation of Election Night fireworks in New York City the day before the Nov. 8 election as the moment he knew he would win. Trump eventually won 304 electoral votes, two shy of the 306 he was awarded by voters due to a pair of so-called “faithless electors” in the Electoral College. Clinton won the national popular vote by over 2.8 million votes but failed to win the Electoral College.
Trump laments Chicago’s high murder rate and suggests the city, run by Mayor Rahm Emanuel (President Barack Obama‘s first chief of staff), request federal funds to address the problem. Trump’s tweet came the morning after 60 Minutes aired a segment on Chicago’s gun violence, in which former police Superintendent Garry McCarthy said the Chicago Police Department was in crisis.
Jan. 1, 2017
Trump wishes America a happy New Year, along with his campaign slogan “Make America great again.” On New Year’s Eve, Trump wished a happy New Year’s to his “many enemies and those who have fought me and lost so badly they just don’t know what to do.”
This piece will be continually updated with Trump’s latest tweets throughout 2017.
Additional reporting by Josh Katzowitz and Monica Riese.
