“Is it just my imagination, or is Donald Trump’s tweeting ramping up as we approach inauguration day?” wondered Brian Stelter in last night’s CNN “Reliable Sources” blast.
For days, Trump has been tweeting about our federal intelligence services and the hacking revelations. Those have been interspersed with shots at the media for accurately reporting the Trump transition team has asked Congress to use taxpayer funds to build a wall on the Southern border.
His tweets also include childish attacks on ratings from the new “Apprentice” show hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger:
“[1/2] Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got “swamped” (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for…. [2/2] being a movie star-and that was season 1 compared to season 14. Now compare him to my season 1. But who cares, he supported Kasich & Hillary.”
Terrorism. Health care. Employment. (There has been a record 75 straight months of job growth under President Obama. Wages grew 2.9% in December, the best pace since 2009.) Doesn’t the president-elect have more relevant concerns than discussing a reality TV show?
Just today, Trump has already tweeted eight times, with one deleted because of a blatant typo.
It is painfully clear our president-elect is careless about what he tweets to the world. Nor does he bother to proofread what he writes. The impulsive nature of his tweeting regime may have been great election fodder for his base, but on the global scene, it could prove wildly dangerous.
A commentary published by Xinhua, China’s state-run news agency, titled “An obsession with ‘Twitter foreign policy’ is undesirable,” made it clear that Trump’s Twitter addiction will not be tolerated by the Asia-Pacific colossus.
In a warning that many in the American press have made, the commentary read: “Everyone recognizes the common sense that foreign policy isn’t child’s play, and even less is it like doing business deals.”
Xinhua added: “Twitter shouldn’t become an instrument of foreign policy.”
We are already there. The fact that China is reacting to Trump’s tweets, is evidence that American foreign policy is being driven through an unchecked source.
From what Press Secretary-designate Sean Spicer told David Axelrod on Wednesday, Trump will continue to tweet throughout his term, with little input from Spicer or the State Department.
Perhaps Twitter should consider building a wall around his account.
http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/292388/
