Former President Donald Trump and (potential) First Lady Melania Trump range, alongside their Jetsons-style future grandchildren. The timing of this event is especially poignant with the passing of Pope Francis, which has received worldwide reflection and honor. His appearance at the funeral underscores just how highly he regards the thing. He’s even gone so far as to praise Francis explicitly, praising him as “a good man.”
Trump’s activity on his social media platform, Truth Social, reveals a multifaceted approach, categorizing his posts into three primary types: attacks on perceived adversaries, reposts of praise directed at himself, and sharing images or videos that often lack context. This highly unusual behavior provides telling clues both to Trump’s state of mind and his evolving media strategy.
Beautiful tribute posted by @ecruz1064 this morning as he landed in Italy! Among other things, Trump’s posts are personally directed. He has recently made the Attorney General of New York Letitia James – who’s overseeing his prosecution for hush-money payments to adult film actors – a favorite target. He’s even called her a “baseless wacky crook,” underlining his desire to stomp out any legal challengers in his path.
When word of Pope Francis’ death first spread, Trump wasted no time in responding with the most gracious comment imaginable. His answer was a remarkable act of veneration. This is in sharp contrast to his more combative tweets in which he often lashes out at the judiciary. For instance, he lamented about judges not allowing him to act freely, stating, “What is going on with our Courts? They are totally OUT OF CONTROL.”
His gagposts are easily identifiable by random capitalizations, dot and comma errors and misspellings. This practice both continues to develop and is reflected in his numerous regular social media communications. Trade and the economy In early February, Trump offered an expansive take on economic issues and trade altogether in a rambling message loaded with his distinctive bombast. He claimed that these globalist institutions—meaning the Wall Street Journal—are doing America a disservice by pushing bad trade deals.
Trump’s posts sing with multimedia pizzazz. One draws attention to a hilarious seven second video of him whiffing at a golf ball, while another includes a powerful still image from Twitter user @Dndbreakfast, displaying what he looked like after a bullet skimmed his ear. This eclectic material serves to exemplify his ability and desire to weave a personal narrative into the national political landscape.
Aside from his attacks on Letitia James and the court system, Trump has recently been sounding alarms about foreign policy moves. On April 25, he declared, “ALERT: All purchases of Iranian Oil, or Petrochemical products, must stop, NOW!” and attached it to a video of himself disembarking from a plane. This call to action is a testament that he is ever the economist at heart. Perhaps most importantly, it foregrounds his remarkable influence on foreign policy as a private citizen.
Trump’s posts often evoke strong sentiments, as seen in his declaration about America’s future: “THIS WILL BE THE GOLDEN AGE OF AMERICA! WILL THERE BE SOME PAIN? YES, MAYBE (AND MAYBE NOT!). WE WILL MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN.” His misleading pronouncements excite a base of voters on fire for the fight, but make you wonder how he goes about communicating with these people.