[Being a look at the @RealDonaldTrump Twitter account, with a glance at the @POTUS account, grouped for your topical pleasure.]
Friday? Already? How the time flies, Donald, when you’re wondering if missiles will be …
What’s crawled out of the Twitter Stream from the Id today, Donald?
The Senate!
How are things going up on Capitol Hill, Donald? Are you vigorously working with the leadership and rank-and-file of GOP lawmakers to craft a plan that will fulfill your campaign promises and Make America Great Again?
Mitch, get back to work and put Repeal & Replace, Tax Reform & Cuts and a great Infrastructure Bill on my desk for signing. You can do it!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2017
Ah. Still winning friend and influencing people in the US Senate, Donald. You do realize that Sen. McConnell is pretty essential to the passage of anything that you want to brag about. Most people would be encouraging, supportive, collaborative, all that. And, in a vacuum, that tweet might have applied … except this isn’t a vacuum, and coupled with your tweets about McConnell earlier this week, make it clear this is marching orders / cajoling, not cheering from the sidelines.
Apparently you’ve decided McConnell threw you under the bus with his “excessive expectations” comment the other day, so he’s fair game to be thrown under the bus first. That’s a real leadership lesson, Donald.
Then you retweeted a couple of Fox & Friends (of course) articles:
Senators learn the hard way about the fallout from turning on Trump https://t.co/wq8Im1cHpy
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 11, 2017
The story talks about how Dean Heller, Jeff Flake, and, yes, Mitch McConnell are facing the potential (or even the reality) of well-funded primary threats back home.
(Also, does that really strike anyone as a particularly “fair” or “balanced” headline? I mean, really? C’mon, Donald, it sounds like you wrote it.)
Trump fires new warning shot at McConnell, leaves door open on whether he should step down https://t.co/tJIRc0usWl
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 11, 2017
And another Fox & Friends (of course!) retweet.
The weird thing here is, Donald, this sort of thing is clearly just playing to your audience. I mean, McConnell knows what you said. He even knows about this Fox article. Your calling it out isn’t a message to him, it’s a message to your Trumpists to start calling for McConnell’s resignation (or at least his compliance with your demands). It’s … an interesting choice of tactics, Donald, but it’s completely your style.
International Brouhaha!
Since we all need a reminder about US military might, etc., you retweeted:
FOX NEWS ALERT: 2 US drone strikes in Somalia target Al Qaeda and Al-Shabaab pic.twitter.com/MqrY7zbMy2
— FOX & friends (@foxandfriends) August 11, 2017
Again, isn’t it interesting that you’re posting a news story from Fox & Friends (of course!), rather than a Pentagon statement. (More, less breathless, coverage of the attack here.)
But, of course, what everyone’s concerned about is North Korea. Are you going to reassure us that we remain safe? Or promise that if we’re attacked, we’ll slap ’em down? No surprise there:
Military solutions are now fully in place,locked and loaded,should North Korea act unwisely. Hopefully Kim Jong Un will find another path!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 11, 2017
I’ll bet you’ve always wanted to say “locked and loaded,” Donald. It sounds very tough and military!
It does call to mind the question of what you consider “act unwisely” to mean, Donald. I mean, it gives you lots of wiggle room to pick and choose, but I do have to wonder about what the DPRK would actually have to do in order to draw a US military strike. I’m sure they are wondering that, too. So are the millions of people in South Korea (including 300K Americans).
Hopefully we’ll all find another path other than acting “unwisely.”
You retweeted:
#USAF B-1B Lancer #bombers on Guam stand ready to fulfill USFK’s #FightTonight mission if called upon to do so https://t.co/O3oVeFrNrG pic.twitter.com/IAm2qLwcWY
— U.S. Indo-Pacific Command (@INDOPACOM) August 11, 2017
[Retweeted on @POTUS]
Very impressive. Nothing that the North Koreans don’t already know about, of course, but I’m sure it makes your audience all tingly.
Potpourri!
"Trump approval rebounds to 45%, surges among Hispanics, union homes, men" https://t.co/vvJMDv9Gjl
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 10, 2017
[Retweeted on @POTUS, because it’s sooooo Presidential.]
Isn’t your Administration a little bit new to be called a “comeback kid,” Donald, even by a fawningly conservative newspaper?
The survey is one from Zogby, and their overall analysis doesn’t sound that encouraging (emphasis mine):
The president’s approval rating has rebounded somewhat since our July poll. Following a series of disastrous weeks, Trump’s approval numbers have moved up slightly, especially among his base and a few other sub-groups not known for their support of the president
Zogby, which tends to have mediocre accuracy scores, shows your overall approval at 45% vs 51% disapproval. As bad as that sounds, it remains an outlier. Even your previously favorite polling shop, Rasmussen, isn’t quite that optimistic, showing 45% vs 53%, though they’ve shown an overall rise in the last week. 538’s aggregate score is at 37%-57%, but, yes, trending in your favor.
Of course, as your many-multi-million dollar missile lobbing at Syria demonstrated, being tough and military is always good for a few ticks of support increase. Muscle flexing is popular, reflexively, as is rallying behind a military threat.
As long as you don’t go too far, Donald.
You or your Social Media Minions also tweeted about …
- Ivanka leading a US delegation this fall to India to discuss women’s entrepreneurship.
- A couple of tweets talking about VA Secretary Shulkin.