Mathilde Aubier for Le Monde
DecryptionEnsure its promotion permanently, bypass diplomacy, destroy the legacy of Barack Obama … under their erratic air, the some 24,000 Tweet published by Donald Trump meet a series of objectives.
Messy, brutal, nasty, often cryptic. But also, sometimes, funny despite himself when he tangles his brushes and tweets an incomprehensible “covfefe”, probably wanting to write “coverage”. Joining the 87.3 million subscribers of @realDonaldTrump’s Twitter account and activating notifications is opening a window into the mind of Donald Trump, the most powerful man on the planet.
The billionaire arrived on this social network in spring 2009 and had time to develop her Tweeting art before entering the White House. For six years, he broadened his audience with slogans, shock phrases and words understandable by an 11-year-old child such as “super”, “good”, “bad” … “If President Trump is on Twitter, preferably using his personal account, it is because he had an audience before being president, and he has, in his own way, shaped Twitter”, analysis Antoine Bondaz, researcher at the Foundation for Strategic Research and lecturer at Sciences Po.
Who remembers November 12, 2016, four days after her victory over Hillary Clinton, when he said on CBS, of social media: “If I use them, I will exercise a lot of restraint” ? Alas, since his election, he has tweeted and retweeted more than 24,000 times, never ceasing to vituperate and comment on the news in an epidermal way. But under its erratic airs, Donald Trump’s tweetomania responds to a series of very specific objectives: to ensure his permanent promotion, to destroy the legacy of Barack Obama and his Democratic opponents, or to stand as warlord.
Defend your status as “best president”
“I’m the president who has done the most for black Americans in history, except maybe Lincoln. ” In his Tweet, Donald Trump continues what he has done since his beginnings on the network: provide his own after-sales service.
“We must never forget that Trump is a brand to grow. Businessman or president, he is obsessed with the idea of being talked about and putting his name everywhere: hotels, casinos, Israeli settlement [Trump Heights, sur le plateau du Golan] “, explains Marie-Cécile Naves, research director at the Institute of International and Strategic Relations (IRIS).
Alexis Pichard, doctor of American civilization and associate professor of English specializing in American politics and media at the University of Paris-Nanterre, adds:
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