President Donald Trump’s controversial Twitter usage has been an issue long before his campaign began, and this controversy apparently has not changed.
Since his inauguration on January 20, approval of Trump’s policy decisions has been lackluster, and his tweeting is no exception. A January NBC/Wall Street Journal poll found that seven in 10 Americans disapprove of Trump’s Twitter usage. Lake Forest College students echo these sentiments.
“I think it’s unprofessional and unnecessary,” Michaela Kopystynsky ’17 said.
According to WhiteHouse.gov, the official presidential Twitter handle, @POTUS, was transferred from former President Barack Obama to Trump, giving Trump a second Twitter account aside from his personal handle, @realdonaldtrump. Trump has been using both handles regularly, even retweeting posts from his personal account using the presidential handle. But students do not consider Trump’s Twitter usage presidential.
“I think it’s a bit unconventional [and] slightly un-presidential, [but] it seems to have a very high reach if the goal is to communicate and [is] seemingly effective at driving rhetoric,” Noel Orwothwun ’19 said.
Although Trump appears in interviews regularly, he still relies primarily on Twitter for communication. His interviews and press conferences have been vague, but his tweets reveal a lot about his policies. However, students are aggravated that Trump uses Twitter so often and so impulsively.
Janet Villeda ’18 said, “I think he needs to stay off of [Twitter].”
“[Trump] shouldn’t be using [Twitter] to communicate every time he wants to say something,” Justina Zyzczynski ’19 said.
Other students are critical of Trump’s frequent spelling errors.
“Somebody has to check his grammar,” Sam Suk ’19 said. “[When] you’re the president, you need to check your stuff before you [post] it.”
Associate Professor of Politics and Chair of International Relations James Marquardt said that if Trump continues to target opponents and make policy threats on Twitter, there may be negative effects, especially in foreign policy.
“For foreign policy, this kind of thing can be dangerous,” Marquardt said. “When we think of foreign policy, we think of diplomacy. In the foreign policy realm, communicating policy in 140 characters…can be catastrophic.”
While Trump’s Twitter use may appear spontaneous, his tweets are likely first planned by him or his staff with his approval. Marquardt believes that Trump is, in a way, still campaigning and that his tweets may be an effort to promote his brand and appeal to his supporters with help from his staff, even if his message may sometimes conflict with his cabinet’s positions.
“We can’t necessarily conclude…that this is an impulsive behavior,” Marquardt said. “His use of Twitter may be a calculated, strategic act. There may be a method to his madness.”
Marquardt says that the magnitude of Trump’s foreign policy tweets is unclear, but at this point, they do not appear very effective. His tweets about foreign leaders are alarming to many people. Trump’s method of political success through criticism of opponents seems to reflect his method of business success.
“International relations is a delicate social construct, and Trump tweeting out things like ‘torture works,’ or criticizing Angela Merkel, can undermine the United States’ ability to lead,” Marquardt said. “Bullying and pushing people around may win elections, but it will not win you respect in the world.”
