Barack Obama may have been the first US president to use Twitter, but the social media platform has played a far more central role in the presidency of Donald Trump — the latter using Twitter to bypass journalists and his own communications staff to share his views directly with the American public.
Despite promising after the election in November last year to be “very restrained [on Twitter], if I use it at all”, Mr Trump has continued to tweet on a daily basis — sometimes posting as many as 11 thoughts a day across a timeline that can span 3am until midnight.
This is perhaps unsurprising given that Mr Trump's affinity for the medium began long before he became president. Since joining Twitter in March 2009, Mr Trump has tweeted from his personal @realDonaldTrump account more than 36,000 times.
And although Mr Trump was handed the reins to the official @POTUS Twitter account after Mr Obama left office in January, he has preferred to continue to tweet from his personal account, which he, rather than his staff, controls.
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Dr Darren Lilleker, a political communications professor at the UK's Bournemouth University, said Mr Trump's continued use of his personal Twitter account indicated there was "no separation between the business tycoon, Apprentice host, candidate and president".
"With Trump there is no change in personae or style" no matter the role he is taking on at any one time, Dr Lilleker told The National.
He said Mr Trump's use of Twitter lent his presidency a "certain authenticity".
"He uses Twitter to share his thoughts and opinions with the world and one does not have to speculate what the president is thinking about global or domestic events — he tweets immediately," Dr Lilleker told The National.
The president himself tweeted on July 2 that his use of social media was not "presidential" but "modern day presidential".
Before last year's presidential election on November 8, Mr Trump's account had an estimated 13 million followers. By inauguration day on January 20, this number had increased to 21 million; today it has grown to 42 million, with global PR firm Burson-Marsteller declaring last month that Mr Trump had overtaken Pope Francis to become the most followed world leader on Twitter. The @POTUS account, meanwhile, has just 21 million followers.
Not only does Mr Trump have more reach with his personal account, but he is also able to delete tweets there — a plus for a president known for his controversial and off-the-cuff remarks. The @POTUS account, however, is considered to be an official communications channel and all tweets must be left to the National Archives and Mr Trump's presidential library.
But being able to delete tweets has not been enough to save Mr Trump from controversy, however, and he has been widely criticised for tweeting before thinking.
In September, North Korea's foreign minister, Ri Yong-ho, said remarks Mr Trump made on Twitter — where he said Mr Ri "won't be around much longer" if he continued to echo the thoughts of North Korean leader Kim Jong-un — constituted a declaration of war.
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On Monday last week, Mr Trump's former presidential rival, Hillary Clinton, said the president's use of Twitter represented a “clear and present danger to world security”.
“Trump does not exercise diplomacy, so his seemingly unthought through communication can be damaging to the reputation of the USA," Dr Lilleker said. "The scope for negotiations between nations is limited if the president is communicating publicly about the issue under discussion."
Mr Trump, who in 2012 described Twitter as "like owning your own newspaper — without the losses", has defended his prolific use of the platform, going so far as to say he “may not have won the US election without it”.
But although Mr Trump is an avid tweeter, he does not appear to be as interested in reading the tweets of others, with @realDonldTrump only following 45 other accounts.
“It hints he is not interested in listening to many people, and, given [most of] his followers are either his businesses, his family, supportive journalists and Republicans, he is purely monitoring a narrow inner circle of individuals,” Dr Lilleker said.
“Perhaps he seeks reinforcement from these people, he wants to see them visibly agreeing with him and avoids and dismisses differences of opinion.
"But fundamentally he is a broadcaster on Twitter; it is about him."
Polls have consistently shown that the majority of Americans would like their president to "broadcast" his views on Twitter less, however, or completely abandon the platform altogether. According to the findings of a Politico-Morning Consult poll released in June, 69 per cent of voters believe Mr Trump “uses Twitter too much", while only 23 per cent say his use of the site is a good thing and 51 per cent believe it hurts national security.
Meanwhile, the findings of a Quinnipiac University poll released in September showed that 70 per cent of voters want the president to stop tweeting from his personal account.
But one user who would be against Mr Trump leaving Twitter is the site’s co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey for whom the president's personal account is the gift that keeps on giving.
“I feel very proud of the role of the service and what it stands for,” Mr Dorsey said last December following Mr Trump's election victory. “It’s had such a spotlight on it through his (Mr Trump's) usage and through the election."
UAE%20SQUAD
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THE%20SPECS
%3Cp%3EEngine%3A%204.4-litre%20twin-turbo%20V8%20hybrid%0D%3Cbr%3EPower%3A%20653hp%20at%205%2C400rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETorque%3A%20800Nm%20at%201%2C600-5%2C000rpm%0D%3Cbr%3ETransmission%3A%208-speed%20auto%0D%3Cbr%3E0-100kph%20in%204.3sec%0D%3Cbr%3ETop%20speed%20250kph%0D%3Cbr%3EFuel%20consumption%3A%20NA%0D%3Cbr%3EOn%20sale%3A%20Q2%202023%0D%3Cbr%3EPrice%3A%20From%20Dh750%2C000%0D%3Cbr%3E%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Shubh Mangal Saavdhan
Directed by: RS Prasanna
Starring: Ayushmann Khurrana, Bhumi Pednekar
Specs
Engine: Dual-motor all-wheel-drive electric
Range: Up to 610km
Power: 905hp
Torque: 985Nm
Price: From Dh439,000
Available: Now
In numbers: PKK’s money network in Europe
Germany: PKK collectors typically bring in $18 million in cash a year – amount has trebled since 2010
Revolutionary tax: Investigators say about $2 million a year raised from ‘tax collection’ around Marseille
Extortion: Gunman convicted in 2023 of demanding $10,000 from Kurdish businessman in Stockholm
Drug trade: PKK income claimed by Turkish anti-drugs force in 2024 to be as high as $500 million a year
Denmark: PKK one of two terrorist groups along with Iranian separatists ASMLA to raise “two-digit million amounts”
Contributions: Hundreds of euros expected from typical Kurdish families and thousands from business owners
TV channel: Kurdish Roj TV accounts frozen and went bankrupt after Denmark fined it more than $1 million over PKK links in 2013
Real estate tokenisation project
Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.
The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.
Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.
THE LIGHT
Director: Tom Tykwer
Starring: Tala Al Deen, Nicolette Krebitz, Lars Eidinger
Rating: 3/5
THE SPECS
Range Rover Sport Autobiography Dynamic
Engine: 5.0-litre supercharged V8
Transmission: six-speed manual
Power: 518bhp
Torque: 625Nm
Speed: 0-100kmh 5.3 seconds
Price: Dh633,435
On sale: now
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Kumulus Water
Started: 2021
Founders: Iheb Triki and Mohamed Ali Abid
Based: Tunisia
Sector: Water technology
Number of staff: 22
Investment raised: $4 million
Our family matters legal consultant
Name: Dr Hassan Mohsen Elhais
Position: legal consultant with Al Rowaad Advocates and Legal Consultants.
The Baghdad Clock
Shahad Al Rawi, Oneworld
KEY%20DATES%20IN%20AMAZON'S%20HISTORY
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The specs
Engine: 77.4kW all-wheel-drive dual motor
Power: 320bhp
Torque: 605Nm
Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh219,000
On sale: Now
ENGLAND WORLD CUP SQUAD
Eoin Morgan (captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jos Buttler (wicketkeeper), Tom Curran, Joe Denly, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood
NO OTHER LAND
Director: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham, Rachel Szor, Hamdan Ballal
Stars: Basel Adra, Yuval Abraham
Rating: 3.5/5
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Company%20Profile
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Greatest of All Time
Starring: Vijay, Sneha, Prashanth, Prabhu Deva, Mohan
Name: Brendalle Belaza
From: Crossing Rubber, Philippines
Arrived in the UAE: 2007
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi: NYUAD campus
Favourite photography style: Street photography
Favourite book: Harry Potter
Company profile
Company: Verity
Date started: May 2021
Founders: Kamal Al-Samarrai, Dina Shoman and Omar Al Sharif
Based: Dubai
Sector: FinTech
Size: four team members
Stage: Intially bootstrapped but recently closed its first pre-seed round of $800,000
Investors: Wamda, VentureSouq, Beyond Capital and regional angel investors
2025 Fifa Club World Cup groups
Group A: Palmeiras, Porto, Al Ahly, Inter Miami.
Group B: Paris Saint-Germain, Atletico Madrid, Botafogo, Seattle.
Group C: Bayern Munich, Auckland City, Boca Juniors, Benfica.
Group D: Flamengo, ES Tunis, Chelsea, Leon.
Group E: River Plate, Urawa, Monterrey, Inter Milan.
Group F: Fluminense, Borussia Dortmund, Ulsan, Mamelodi Sundowns.
Group G: Manchester City, Wydad, Al Ain, Juventus.
Group H: Real Madrid, Al Hilal, Pachuca, Salzburg.
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Jumanji: The Next Level
Director: Jake Kasdan
Stars: Dwayne Johnson, Kevin Hart, Karen Gillan, Jack Black, Nick Jonas
Two out of five stars
Company%20profile
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Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
ULTRA PROCESSED FOODS
- Carbonated drinks, sweet or savoury packaged snacks, confectionery, mass-produced packaged breads and buns
- Margarines and spreads; cookies, biscuits, pastries, cakes, and cake mixes, breakfast cereals, cereal and energy bars
- Energy drinks, milk drinks, fruit yoghurts and fruit drinks, cocoa drinks, meat and chicken extracts and instant sauces
- Infant formulas and follow-on milks, health and slimming products such as powdered or fortified meal and dish substitutes
- Many ready-to-heat products including pre-prepared pies and pasta and pizza dishes, poultry and fish nuggets and sticks, sausages, burgers, hot dogs, and other reconstituted meat products, powdered and packaged instant soups, noodles and desserts
Things Heard & Seen
Directed by: Shari Springer Berman, Robert Pulcini
Starring: Amanda Seyfried, James Norton
2/5
'The Predator'
Dir: Shane Black
Starring: Olivia Munn, Boyd Holbrook, Keegan-Michael Key
Two and a half stars
Zodi%20%26%20Tehu%3A%20Princes%20Of%20The%20Desert
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EEric%20Barbier%26nbsp%3B%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EYoussef%20Hajdi%2C%20Nadia%20Benzakour%2C%20Yasser%20Drief%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A