#TrumpTweetTuesdays

[trumptweettuesdays-blog]

Trump Tweet Tuesday 3/27/17

This week’s themes are: health care, Russia, propaganda, immigration, National Agriculture Day, jobs, NASA and presidential notes.

Theme 1: Health Care Scramble

Trump has been pushing his health care reform since the campaign trail, and Republicans have been pushing it for the last seven years.  Trump promised a vote on the health care reform and more or less promised that Trumpcare would succeed - tremendously.  Yet, the Republican health care plan, the American Health Care Act, could not get the votes needed to pass.  The conservative Freedom Caucus wanted more restrictions and limitations on health care, therefore Trump blames them for the failure.  Trump, however, claims that the vote was “very close,” but we will never know since the Republicans withdrew the opportunity to vote so technically they didn’t lose, they just didn’t win either.

Some say it was Paul Ryan’s (not Trump’s) fault since he couldn’t gather the necessary Republican votes.  Judge Jeanine provided this analysis on Fox News on March 25th, but Trump says this critique of Ryan had nothing to do with why Trump told his followers to watch the show that evening.  Seems a little coincidental.  

No vote on health care vote

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/24/politics/house-health-care-vote

Judge Jeanine

http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/politics-news/trump-tweet-hyping-judge-jeanine-show-wasn-t-criticism-paul-n738711

Theme 2: Russia

The doors are closing in on Trump and his connections to Russia.  More of his close allies are coming under investigation, including his son-in-law and top White House adviser Jared Kushner.  As more evidence comes pouring in, the Chairman of the investigation committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif) has come under fire for perhaps siding with Trump and not being neutral in the investigation.  He called off the rest of the hearings this week, which some see as outright support for Trump and his cabinet.

Russian investigations

https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2017/03/28/now-we-know-why-trump-panicked-about-russia-probe/?utm_term=.93bcbbc4defa

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-russia-idUSKBN16Y1H6

Theme 3: Propaganda

Trump again toted his familiar phrase of “Make America Great Again” (MAGA), citing his own rally and those held across the country. However, what Trump failed to address was the amount of violent incidents reported at said rallies. He also misleads followers regarding the purpose of his Louisville, Kentucky rally. The links below are reports of violence at a few of the pro-Trump rallies that occurred across the nation. It comes as no surprise that violence broke out at the rallies (as pro-Trump crowds and supporters have resorted to violence in the past), and it could be argued that Trump’s lack of response regarding the violence is also no surprise. Trump has yet to address the violence that his supporters have committed since the earlier days of his campaign, and has even encouraged said violence at times.

In terms of the purpose of the rally, it was lost not only in the tweet but also in some of the content of Trump’s speech. The rally was meant to promote Republicans’ efforts to repeal and replace Obamacare. However, the tweet and the content of the clip Trump shared show otherwise. Content of the video includes a Rolling Stones song and a commitment to stopping Islamic terrorism through immigration reform. (A full version of the speech is included in the clip below).  As with much of Trump’s remarks about rallies, the successes were overstated and the issues ignored.  When will this campaigning stop?

Violence at MAGA rallies:

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/scuffles-pro-trump-rallies-held-6-arrested-california-clash-n738571

http://www.sfgate.com/aboutsfgate/article/Pro-Trump-rally-ends-with-a-man-getting-beaten-11029327.php

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/real-time/Pro-Trump-MAGA-March-Philly-Jersey-March-25-2017.html

Trump Kentucky rally:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/20/watch-live-donald-trump-holds-rally-louisville/99429220/

Theme 4: Immigration

Trump congratulates his appointed Director of Homeland Security for doing a “great job” at keeping immigrants out. He stakes the claim that numbers are down and there are fewer immigrants trying to get into the country. While we were unable to find support for these numbers, we do recognize that Trump may have access to statistics that we do not, but also that he is no stranger to using alternative facts to support his arguments. Beyond the claims here, it is no secret what Trump’s stand on immigration has been and how it continues. He continues to criminalize undocumented residents to support their mistreatment.  In addition, he has threatened reducing funding for US cities that have established themselves as sanctuaries.  

With the hostile climate regarding the mistreatment of undocumented residents and workers, senate Democrats are set to meet with General Kelly to further voice their concerns and disagreements with current DHS (Department of Homeland Security) tactics, such as raiding homes and physical violence against individuals.

We also wonder if this tweet has an alternative purpose.  Trump has not been able to get Mexico to pay for the wall that he promised on the campaign trail, and the estimated cost of the proposed wall keeps going up.  If immigrants “are not even trying to come in anymore” maybe this point allows Trump to back down from his wall promise.

Trump criminalizes immigrants

http://chicago.suntimes.com/columnists/steinberg-trump-twists-crime-numbers-to-demonize-immigrants/

Sanctuary jurisdictions and ICE

https://www.numbersusa.com/news/first-detainer-report-shows-206-ice-detainers-were-declined

Senate Democrats to meet with General Kelly

http://www.politico.com/story/2017/03/senate-democrats-john-kelly-meeting-immigration-236548

Theme 5: National Agriculture Day

Trump declared March 21, 2017 as National Agriculture Day, citing the ingenuity of the industry and the value it provides to employment and the economy.  By the looks of it, this proclamation seems good and like a solid endorsement of a necessary component of our society and economy.  Yet, he ignored numerous issues in agriculture today including monopolies over genetically modified seeds, including corn and soybean which is 70-80 percent controlled by four biotech companies.  In addition, though Trump lauded agriculture today he is simultaneously suggesting a 21% cut to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), a cut of about 4.7 billion dollars.

Trump proclaims National Agriculture Day

https://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2017/03/21/president-donald-j-trump-proclaims-march-21-2017-national-agriculture

Trump’s budget proposes cut to USDA

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-budget-agriculture-idUSKBN16N0CS

Biotech monopolies

http://www.fooddemocracynow.org/blog/2013/oct/4/the_gmo_seed_monopoly_fewer_choices_higher_prices

Theme 6: Jobs

This week Trump continues his idea that he alone is bringing jobs to the United States.  Raising employment was one of the issues that Trump convinced voters with so it’s not surprising that he maintains that his business savvy is creating new jobs.  He specifically announces that there is new support and new jobs coming via Charter Communications, the trucking industry, and the Keystone Pipeline.  

The Keystone Pipeline is opposed by a wide range of communities and most importantly, the Sioux community whose lands will be destroyed by the pipeline. In addition, the pipeline will create only between 2,000-3,000 construction jobs and all of these jobs are temporary (a couple years or less).  Once the pipeline is built only 35 permanent employees are needed.

In relationship to trucking, he spoke on how the trucking industry provides important jobs and how, supposedly, Obamacare hurt the trucking industry through its mandates.

In relationship to Charter Communications, Trump is taking credit for jobs that he did not barter.  The job creation was in process for the last two years and the financial investment commitment also occurred before Trump became president.

Keystone Pipeline

http://money.cnn.com/2017/03/24/investing/keystone-pipeline-jobs-trump/

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/keystone-xl-protesters-trump-approval_us_58d55333e4b02a2eaab3819e?utm_hp_ref=keystone-pipeline

Trucking

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/23/trump-talks-health-care-with-truckers.html

Charter Communications

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/27/fact-check-trump-job-boast-charter-communications/99683484/

Theme 7: NASA

Trump boasts about signing a new bill that primarily affects NASA and its space exploration initiatives. (A link to the full content of the bill may be found below) The bill was introduced by Republican Ted Cruz and ultimately grants NASA $19.5 billion in funding. However, businesses that work with NASA are not as happy as Trump and others believe them to be. Elon Musk, the chief executive of SpaceX, a private transportation company that has collaborated with NASA, took to Twitter to make it clear that the funding does little to promote Mars explorations. SpaceX has aided NASA on cargo missions and attempts to reach and colonize Mars. So despite the smiling faces in the picture below it is clear that while NASA appreciates the additional funding, it is not going to the initiatives that they would most like to see supported.

S.442 Bill

https://www.congress.gov/bill/115th-congress/senate-bill/442

Elon Musk responds to additional funding

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/22/elon-musk-slams-donald-trumps-nasa-bill-saying-it-does-nothing-to-help-mission-to-mars.html

Theme 8: Presidential Notes

Trump took to Twitter this week to offer condolences for victims of a terrorist attack in London and to honor war heroes with the Medal of Honor. The attacks in London were initially believed to be connected to Islamic terrorists groups but no evidence has been found to support the claim. Despite British government’s public displays of discontent with Trump, he suggests that he and Prime Minister Theresa May discussed the attacks and she is “doing well”.

Many have praised Trump for recognizing Medal of Honor Day because it has not been observed all that often. However, as USA Today mentions, many of those that were honored endorsed Trump during the election, and this recognition could serve to sustain that support in the future.

London attacks

http://www.cnn.com/2017/03/23/europe/london-attack/

No evidence of London attack suspect being tied to terrorist groups

http://time.com/4713966/london-attack-khalid-masood-terrorism-ties/

Trump recognizes war heroes

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2017/03/24/trump-invites-medal-honor-recipients-white-house/99566606/

[trumptweettuesdays-blog]

Welcome to Trump Tweet Tuesdays

Each week we review Trump’s tweets from Twitter.  We first organize them thematically (because we know his mind is all over the place) and then we provide brief summaries of the context of the tweets.  We also provide links to reliable relevant new stories that connect to the tweets’ contexts.  We, unfortunately, live in a day in age where the president’s Twitter account is a place where policy and ideology come alive.  Yet, the president’s Twitter account can also give you a headache.  Thus, our motto is “we follow him so you don’t have to.”  Welcome to Trump Tweet Tuesdays where every Tuesday we’ll post the tweets from the previous week! 

[trumptweettuesdays-blog]

TTT 8.28.18

This week’s themes are Russia Collusion, Immigration and Tibbetts, McCain, Campaigning, Trade, Fake News, Sports, South Africa Land Seizure, Nazi Deportation, Propaganda, and Presidential Notes.

Russia Collusion

The investigation into Russia Collusion has not let up and neither has Trump’s denials.  This week Trump continues his assault on Clinton and her emails, which was settled over a year ago, but Trump’s former campaign chair, Manafort was found guilty on multiple corruption charges. On August 25th Trump threatened to intervene if the FBI doesn’t do better?  Trump’s persistent assaults on Clinton are ridiculous, but they serve as a distraction to Trump’s base who would rather spend time hating Clinton that discovering that their President worked with Russia.

Trump also repeated that he did not know about his son’s meeting with Russia officials at Trump Tower. Yet Trump’s former lawyer, Cohen, is now saying that Trump did have knowledge of the meeting.

Trump also Tweeted out his condolences for Manafort and his family; rather than acknowledging Manafort’s guilt Trump criticized Mueller’s investigation for going outside the bounds of their investigation.  Mueller has clearly worked to uncover illegal practices of those in Trump’s circle, which then can lead to plea deals to provide information on the Russia Collusion.

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/trump-fbi-jeff-sessions-fbi_us_5b815529e4b0cd327dfd0da9

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/403574-trump-i-did-not-know-about-trump-tower-meeting

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/21/trump-says-he-feels-very-badly-about-manafort-guilty-verdict-790841

Immigration and Tibbetts

Mollie Tibbetts, a college woman in Iowa, disappeared after going for a run.  Authorities recently found her body and are charging an undocumented man for her death.  Trump took the death of this young woman as an opportunity to promote his nativist agenda; he said the event wouldn’t have happened if it were not for lax immigration laws and essentially placed the responsibility of Tibbett’s death at the feet of Democrats.  Sarah Sanders, White House press secretary, said “Sadly, the individual believed to be responsible for the murder is an illegal immigrant, making this an unfortunate reminder of why we need to strengthen our immigration laws.”  Tibbetts’ father spoke out against Trump, saying he did not want his daughter to be used as a pawn in political conversation and specifically not in anti-immigrant rhetoric.  He released a statement, which included this point: “do not appropriate Mollie's soul in advancing views she believed were profoundly racist.”

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/22/mollie-tibbetts-death-donald-trump-791461

https://www.cnn.com/2018/09/02/us/mollie-tibbetts-father-op-ed/index.html

McCain

Senator John McCain passed away hours after he posted that he was stopping his cancer treatment. Trump managed to Tweet out a brief message, but he made sure to not say anything laudatory or bring it up during any of his events that day. McCain specifically said Trump was not invited to his funeral so past presidents Obama and Bush provided eulogies in Trump’s absence.

https://www.politico.com/story/2018/08/26/john-mccain-trump-white-house-796166

Campaigning

Trump Tweeted out his regular endorsements for candidates as election season continues.  Of particular note are his Tweets about his visit to Ohio, his self-assigned grades, and his visit to West Virginia. Trump went to Ohio to lead the state Republican Party’s annual dinner, but Ohio Governor John Kasich did not attend. Kasich has crticized Trump amd Trump has repeatedly blamed the Republican Kasich for party losses. In an interview with Fox News Trump said he would give himself an A+ for his presidency so far, especially for his work on the Supreme Court and taxes.  Given that an A+ implies perfection, this grade reflects Trump’s obsession with himself and ignores all the errors he has made. Trump also went to West Virginia where he held a MAGA rally and taunted the public and the media by asking them to prove there was collusion. This statement is particularly ironic given that Manfort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, was found guilty of 8 counts of financial crimes this week. It’s also a little ironic that Trump played John Denver’s song “Take Me Home, Country Roads” during his rally considering Denver was definitely on the liberal side.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-to-headline-ohio-gop-dinner-but-kasich-wont-be-there/2018/08/22/e25f10d4-a65c-11e8-b76b-d513a40042f6_story.html?utm_term=.9dbd10ad9b70

https://thehill.com/homenews/administration/403211-trump-gives-himself-a-grade-of-a

https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2018/08/21/watch_live_trump_rally_in_west_virginia.html

https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-rally-west-virginia-08-21-18/index.html

Trade

Trump has been working on trade negotiations with Mexico in an effort to fix NAFTA, the problem is that he has been in conversation with Mexico and not Canada. Trump said he will make two bilateral agreements with the nations individually if he cannot get Canada to agree to the negotiations set with Mexico. “The agreement with Mexico requires 75% of a car’s value to be manufactured in North America, up from Nafta’s current level of 62.5%, Reuters reported. It would also require 40% to 45% of the car to be made by workers earning at least $16 per hour.”  The trade deal has to be approved by Congress for it to go forward.

Trump had plans for Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to go to North Korea to continue denuclearization talks but that visit has now been halted. Trump said not enough progress has been made for Pompeo to make the visit and that solidifying trade agreements with China before the trip is also a goal.

The Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act was passed as part of the National Defense Authorization Act. The goal is for the US to have stricter measures on intellectual and technology property.

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/aug/27/trump-nafta-us-mexico-trade-understanding-latest

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/24/politics/trump-pompeo-north-korea/index.html

https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/remarks-president-trump-roundtable-foreign-investment-risk-review-modernization-act-firrma/

Fake News

Trump continues his rant against fake media.  In an interview on Fox News Trump said fake news is 80 percent of the media.  He also Tweeted the “Social Media Giants” are silencing the people; this statement is in reference to how Twitter and Facebook have limited posts from far right thinkers who promote hate speech, including racist and anti-Semitic speech.  

The New Yorker reported that Trump was considering revoking security clearance to Obama, a privilege that is generally maintained to previous officials so they can consult.  Trump revoked security clearance to former CIA director Brennan, but Trump Tweeted that he not considered doing that to Obama.

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/24/17759940/donald-trump-economy-jobs-growth-obama

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/21/donald-trump-barack-obama-security-clearance/1049907002/

Sports

Trump has continued his assault on NFL protestors and famous athletes who are outspoken about the social problems; these persistent attacks have led to more conversations about the relationship between the presidency and sports.

The mixed-race (self-identified) golf player, Tiger Woods, was asked about Trump’s policies towards people of color and about race relations in general.  Woods has known Trump for years and stumbled around the answers; Woods said people need to respect the office of the presidency and that he was hungry. Of course Trump is thrilled that Woods kept mum.

Trump met with Jim Brown, a former football player and activist.  Brown said he was impressed with Trump and Trump’s goals to support Black communities.

Trump wished a happy birthday to former WWE player and businessman, Vince McMahon. Trump and McMahon go way back since Trump had a bit with the WWE.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/christinebrennan/2018/08/28/tiger-woods-successfully-straddles-fence-president-trump/1127549002/

https://www.thenation.com/article/understanding-jim-browns-ugly-support-of-donald-trump/

http://www.wrestlinginc.com/wi/news/2018/0825/645189/donald-trump-wishes-vince-mcmahon-happy-birthday/

South Africa Land Seizure

The South African president, Ramaphosa, is considering taking lands from White farmers without compensation in order to redistribute lands and work toward economic equality.  Fox News reported that land seizures had already occurred, essentially Tucker Carlson tried to energize his White nationalist base by implying Blacks were stealing from poor White farmers.  And, Trump, rather than getting information or council from his staff, Tweeted out a policy directive because of a false story he heard on Fox News.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/22/it-finally-happened-the-long-fight-to-expel-americas-last-known-nazi

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-45285827

Nazi Deportation

A man who lived in Queens, New York for decades was discovered to have been an guard at a concentration camp during WWII; he originally got into the United States by claiming he was a Polish immigrant farmer.  Groups have been calling for his deportation for years, but the U.S. was having a hard time finding a country who would take him.  Trump deported the man this week.  New York State Assemblyman Hikind went on Fox and Friends to thank Trump for getting it done.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/aug/22/it-finally-happened-the-long-fight-to-expel-americas-last-known-nazi

Propaganda

Trump went hard with his propaganda Tweets this week, claiming a 90 percent approval rate and releasing a series of videos that touted his accomplishments while criticizing Obama.  Trump’s claims about approval rating are just blatantly incorrect, even if looking at the Rasmussen Poll that tends to provide higher ratings than other agencies. Trump had a 46% approval rating and 54% disapproval; although, Trump has managed to maintain high 80s in the percentage of Republicans who approve of him.

Trump loves to tout high economic numbers including the stock market, but economists continually argue that the economy is still drifting off of Obama era policies and consequences of Trump policies have yet to be seen.  Of course, Trump is angered by this and so continues to attack Obama and other Democrats.  Then in a series of videos he posted on Twitter Trump gloated about low unemployment numbers, ending Obamacare, and that there needs to be an apology for criticizing Trump when he has done a wonderful job.

https://www.newsweek.com/trump-confuses-approval-disapproval-rating-1091208

https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/8/24/17759940/donald-trump-economy-jobs-growth-obama

Presidential Notes

Trump met with the President of Kenya, Uhuru Kenyatta, who some believe is a political twin of Trump.  Kenyatta also was born to  wealthy family, barely won the election, and many believe is wrapped in corruption.

Trump again Tweeted about his concerns about drug pricing, but there has yet to be any real movement on this issue.

Trump spoke with Scott Morrison, Prime Minister of Australia.  Morrison won an election that many feel was unfair, he was voted from within rather than by public vote. Trump said the US relationship with Australia was stronger than ever.

Hawaii was hit by Hurricane Lane where it left over 19 inches of rain. It is estimated that this storm was the largest to hit Hawaii in over 25 years.

Trump awarded a Medal of Honor to John Chapman who died in a 2002 battle in Afghanistan. Chapman’s family went to the White House to receive the award.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/global-opinions/wp/2018/08/27/trump-and-kenyas-president-are-mirror-images-of-each-other/

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/australia-pm-scott-morrison-trump-phone-call-unelected-leader-backlash-a8507726.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/23/us/hurricane-lane-hawaii-wxc/index.html

https://www.cnn.com/2018/08/22/politics/medal-of-honor-john-chapman-donald-trump/index.html