Trump to keep tweeting, press aide says
President-elect Donald Trump won't end the onslaught of posts on Twitter that fed his unconventional campaign, even after taking on the formalized duties of the Oval Office this month.
Making news and issuing statements on social media sites that also include Facebook and Instagram will “absolutely” continue, despite promises by Trump to cut back, incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Sunday on ABC's “This Week.”
“You know what? The fact of the matter is that when he tweets, he gets results,” Spicer said.
In recent tweets alone, Trump has hinted he'd like to change decades of policy on nuclear weapons; praised Russian leader Vladimir Putin even after accusations by intelligence agencies that Russia attempted to tamper with U.S. elections; and said the United Nations is a “club for people to get together, talk and have a good time.”
Days after his victory on Nov. 8, Trump said in an interview on CBS' “60 Minutes” that he was rethinking his use of social media, which had been a potent weapon on the campaign trail. “I'm going to be very restrained, if I use it at all, I'm going to be very restrained,” Trump said.
During the countdown to Inauguration Day on Jan. 20, he's shown little sign of following that pledge.
After Putin said Dec. 30 he wouldn't respond in kind to an Obama administration order expelling 35 Russian diplomats in response to that government's hacking of Democratic Party officials, Trump tweeted: “Great move on delay (by V. Putin) — I always knew he was very smart!”
The next day Trump wished a “Happy New Year to all, including to my many enemies.” New Year's Day brought a more conciliatory greeting “to all Americans” that looked ahead to “a wonderful & prosperous 2017 as we work together.”