Donald Trump’s tweets explained

The FT’s annotated guide to the US president’s Twitter feed

Updated

Donald Trump has used Twitter to set out his agenda, settle scores and bypass the media to speak directly to voters — often moving stocks and sending chief executives and diplomats scurrying in response.

Below is a curated list of tweets selected by the FT, offering an analysis of the US president’s most newsworthy statements during his first 100 days in office.

Context

Mr Trump has tweeted five times about record gains in the stock market since his election victory. This tweet followed a rally the previous day that had pushed all three major US indices to new highs.

Fact Check

The global stock market is actually up nearly $4.1tn since the election, made up of $2.7tn in US gains and $1.4tn abroad, according to Howard Silverblatt, a senior index analyst at S&P Dow Jones Indices. Likewise, US consumer confidence, as measured by the Conference Board, is at a 15-year high as consumers report favourable business and labour market conditions, and improved expectations regarding the short-term outlook for business.

Reaction

While Mr Trump’s tweet touts the more positive aspects of his presidency, news media on the day was dominated by reports that attorney-general Jeff Sessions had failed to disclose meetings with the Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak during his Senate confirmation hearings.

Context

During his address to Congress, Mr Trump repeated claims that the national debt had nearly doubled under President Barack Obama. Earlier in the week Mr Trump also complained that the media had not reported that the national debt had decreased by $12bn in his first month in office, whereas it had increased $200bn during Mr Obama’s first month.

Fact Check

The Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget says the claim is complicated. Treasury figures show debt did change by those increments during the two presidents’ first months, and the committee has confirmed that during Mr Obama’s two terms the national debt nearly doubled, by most measures. However, much of the debt increases were the result of conditions already in place before Mr Obama took office. Additionally, Mr Trump has inherited a stronger economy than the recession inherited by Mr Obama who used stimulus measures to address it.

Context

Following positive reviews of his first address to Congress, Mr Trump delayed plans the next day to sign a new order to replace his travel ban on people from seven Muslim-majority countries which had been blocked in court. His original order had followed up on a campaign pledge for “extreme vetting” on travellers to the US from countries that pose a “terrorism” threat.

Fact Check

According to the state department, all refugees, including those from the seven countries banned by Mr Trump’s original order, are subject to “the highest level of security checks” in a process that includes the FBI, National Counterterrorism Center and the Department of Homeland Security. Additionally, a homeland security intelligence report, obtained by the Wall Street Journal, had found that immigrants from those seven countries pose no particular risk of being terrorists.

Reaction

In the Democrats’ response to Mr Trump’s speech, the former governor of Kentucky Steve Beshear said Mr Trump was “ignoring serious threats to our national security from Russia, who’s not our friend, while alienating our allies … We can protect America without abandoning our principles and our moral obligation to help those fleeing war and terror.”

Context

Mr Trump often focuses on crimes committed by illegal immigrants. Since taking office, he has widened the net for deportation and allowed for faster removal.

Fact Check

President Obama deported 2.7m people during his time in office, a record for a US president, but in his last years in office slowed deportations to prioritise smaller numbers of serious criminals. Mr Trump, by comparison, has allowed for more widespread deportations, including those only suspected of crimes as benign as jaywalking. Several studies have shown immigrants are less likely to commit crimes.

Context

Mr Trump baffled Swedes when he made a vague reference to a terrorist attack at a rally in Florida on Saturday. “We’ve got to keep our country safe," the US president said. "You look at what’s happening in Germany, you look at what’s happening last night in Sweden. Sweden, who would believe this?”

Fact Check

In a Fox News interview, filmmaker Ami Horowitz spoke of an “Islamic” terrorist attack in Sweden, though it is unclear what he was referencing. The country has experienced at least one notable attack when an Iraq-born Swede had injured two in 2010 after setting off a suicide bomb. However the attack was before the recent waves of migrants. Swedish authorities say claims of increased crime are exaggerated and that there is no evidence asylum seekers have contributed to minor categorical upticks in crime.

Reaction

Swedes have reacted negatively in the media and on Twitter. Carl Bildt, a former Swedish prime minister, tweeted in response: “Sweden? Terror attack? What has he been smoking? Questions abound.”

Context

The previous day, global stocks had set a fresh record for the first time since 2015 on hopes of faster economic growth. Wall Street has led the rally since Mr Trump’s surprise victory on promises of a corporate tax cut and decreased regulation.

Fact Check

At the moment Mr Trump had posted his tweet, the market’s advance further into record territory had appeared to be losing momentum. Additionally, the closely-watched US and all-world indices had maintained longer winning streaks within the last few years including the S&P 500, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Nasdaq Composite, FTSE All-World and MSCI World indices. As such, it is unclear to which streak, if any, the president was refering. As ​​John Authers, ​the FT’s ​senior investment correspondent, also wrote​: “It is about more than Donald Trump … China is going for reflation in a big way.”

Context

Leaks published by CNN and the New York Times claim Mr Trump’s aides had been in regular contact with Russian intelligence officers during the 2016 presidential campaign. In response, Mr Trump has condemned the leaks, calling them a “criminal” campaign to undermine his presidency.

Fact Check

In many situations, leakers can face legal action, criminal charges and termination from their jobs. There are legal protections for public sector whistleblowers when they raise flags over alleged corruption. However, the Espionage Act has been used in prosecutions for leaking sensitive and confidential documents.

Reaction

Top Republican and Democratic senators have pledged an independent investigation beyond the one now under way by the FBI, adding to previous inquiries by senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham on the Armed Services Committee. Democrats have also warned that the renewed attacks on the intelligence agencies and the media are dangerous.

Context

The tweet came days after an appeals court rejected the president’s bid to ban all refugee admissions for 120 days and halt arrivals from the seven Muslim nations he listed for 90 days, as he seeks to develop an “extreme vetting” system to protect against terrorists.

Fact Check

The president’s statement was mostly true, according to data from the Refugee Processing Center. Of the 1,460 refugees to enter the US over that period, 72 per cent were from the list of banned countries. However, no refugees were from Libya or Yemen.

Context

In the days before his statement, hundreds of people had been reportedly detained by the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, Atlanta and other cities. In response, Amnesty International had said the action raised “grave human rights concerns”.

Fact Check

An executive order by the president has actually given ICE officers more leeway in assessing if a non-citizen is “a risk to public safety”. This means an individual who is suspected of or charged with any criminal activity may be deported, however small the offence.

Context

A week earlier, Nordstrom announced it would stop selling the Ivanka Trump brand, amid pressure on retailers to boycott her products. The company said it was “not a political decision” but instead “based on the brand’s performance”. The company culls about 10 per cent of its offerings every year.

Fact Check

Nordstrom has not disclosed sales figures. But data compiled by Slice Intelligence show a 26.9 per cent drop in Nordstrom’s online sales of her line last year, compared with a 67 per cent increase the year before.

Reaction

Corporate America is certain to take note, as multinationals fear becoming the next target of the president’s ire. Corporations have been tailoring their media messages to fit the president’s agenda. Nordstrom is just the latest to learn that Mr Trump prefers to claim personal victories, not losses.

Context

Mr Trump’s tweet came just days after he defended Vladimir Putin’s human rights record, saying the US was no better than Putin’s Russia. His comments underscored the continuing sensitivity over Mr Trump’s Russian policy and the ongoing congressional probes of Moscow’s alleged interference in the election.

Fact Check

While Mr Trump has not released his tax returns to offer clarity on the situation, what is known is that his links to Russia span 30 years. Those links have included a Russia-connected business partner and a Russian oligarch who bought his mansion. As for Iran being “#1 in terror”, the country does not rank among the top 10, according to the US state department.

Reaction

The reaction to the morning tweet was muted by midday, with the bulk of media attention on the Senate confirmation of Mr Trump’s pick for education secretary.

Fact Check

The US agreed in November 2016 to resettle about 1,250 asylum seekers held in processing centres in Papua New Guinea and Nauru, and another 370 who had left the islands for medical treatment and remained in Australia. Most are from Afghanistan, Iran and Iraq. Shortly before Mr Trump’s tweets, the State Department issued a statement saying: “President Trump’s decision to honor the refugee agreement has not changed.”

Reaction

Mr Turnbull told reporters in Melbourne after the report was published that he was “not going to comment on a conversation between myself and the President of the United States, other than what we have said publicly. You can surely understand the reasons for that … it’s better that these things, these conversations are conducted candidly, frankly, privately.” He later told a Sydney radio station he was very disappointed that “purported details” of the call had been leaked.

Context

Customs authorities detained immigrants on Friday evening in the wake of President Trump’s ban on refugees and nationals of certain Muslim-majority countries, leading thousands of protesters to gather at airports on Saturday in at least a dozen US cities, causing delays for those entering and leaving airports. The chaos was compounded when Delta Airlines suffered a computer outage Sunday evening, stranding thousands of passengers. Flights returned to normal on Monday morning.

Fact Check

The Delta computer outage began nearly 48 hours after the individuals were detained and a day after the large airport protests against President Trump’s executive order on immigration and refugees. The outage caused lots of problems, but was only the second reason US airports made headlines this weekend. Unnamed DHS officials said that 109 people at US airports had been denied entry to the US as of Saturday night. A DHS press release said that more than 325,000 air travelers enter the US every day.

Reaction

Delta stock fell 3.1 per cent to $48.15 in early morning trading in New York.

Context

After Mexico’s President Enrique Peña Nieto attacked Mr Trump’s executive order to construct a wall between the US and Mexico, saying “Mexico will not pay for any wall”, Mr Trump shot back, saying he should cancel a planned summit between the two leaders. Hours after Mr Peña Nieto did so, the White House said Mr Trump wanted to finance the wall by imposing a 20 per cent tax on imports. Pressed on the details of the tax, the White House said it was “just an idea”.

Fact Check

Critics say such a tax — which Republicans have proposed on all imports into the US — would see American consumers pay the price rather than Mexico. In the first 11 months of 2016, the US imported more than $270bn in goods from Mexico, meaning such a tax would have drawn in more than $54bn over that period.

Reaction

Mexico’s currency fell sharply, down 1.3 per cent to 21.34 pesos to the US dollar.

Developed by Joanna S Kao, Claire Manibog and Ændrew Rininsland