How Donald Trump's Tweets Have Come To Represent American Politics
ABSTRACT
We can all agree that social media has come to occupy a large portion of our lives, and in the last century, has integrated itself into politics with its common use among politicians. The best example of this would be President Donald J. Trump. President Trump has close to no filter when it comes to speaking his mind on social media, drawing excessive attention to himself and fueling debates around the globe. This majorly is due to his unethical manner in handling domestic and foreign affairs; by carrying a taunting like behavior and bullyish like tone in his comments both on social media and live. Which can be seen as a runoff of his restored behaviors from upbringing and his pursuit to perform a make "belief" performance of power.
Additionally, President Trump’s tweets have created a scene of tension in diplomacy as a whole, where instead of coming to mutually agreed decisions through diplomatic debates politicians resort to bickering and threatening one another. Virtually turning the American political scene into a “reality tv show”, creating a dilemma in politics, because while this form of diplomacy is untraditional, it does draw more attention from the general public, making more citizens aware of the politics in our country.
It is understandable for President Trump to use a form of big stick diplomacy to create an image of power for himself and America, however, in a position of such power, President Trump must have some filters and urge for diplomacy rather than tension. I want to analyze the image President Trump’s means of performance within his tweets and active social media have shaped the U.S. over the past three and a half years and the true performance behind his tweets.
Essay
Since the end of the Cold War, diplomacy has been the sole reason why humanity still exists, and just as anything diplomacy is a form of performance, a way of being. However, within the last couple of years, we see a performance of tension not merely on the physical side but mainly on the verbal side beginning to escalate, which can only raise the question of why such behavior in global politics has erupted, and what are the consequences? As in almost anything in the 21st century, the US can be seen to be the frontrunner for this devolution of political diplomacy with our latest president Donald J. Trump. It is reasonable to argue that President Trump has catalyzed an environment of tension in United States politics, fueled by his taunting manner and bullyish tone. Which has pushed and continues to push the United States towards an era of isolationism and, some could argue fascism. So I come to ask how is the practice of diplomacy and Americanism portrayed in President Trump’s tweets and what do they say about the role of diplomacy in American society today?
President Trump, just as anyone acknowledges the powers that come with his position, and has created an image for himself he must continue to represent in the sphere of performance he must continue to live in, to be the man he is supposed to be. However, trying so hard to create the performance of make-“belief” to establish an ethos for his new image President Trump treads the line between using power and abusing it. His performance of make-“belief” to represent power is based on the principles of a bully and represents a culture that is surrounded by tension and division. Bringing on an animalistic approach to politics rather than a civilized one.
The quickest and most prominent way Mr. Trump gets his thoughts out to the people is social media mainly consisting of twitter. His tweets have come to become quite a popular and constant debate on global and domestic platforms. Creating an image for both himself and what American politics have come to represent in his reign. I can understand the fact that using a form of big stick diplomacy by tweeting such aggressive remarks showcases a position of strength however in a position of power in which one represents an entire country one must have some filters and urge for diplomacy rather than tension in both domestic scenes and foreign.
In politics especially there is a code of ethics usually followed among politicians Mr. Trump has come to redefine it by making politics in America almost a reality show this, in fact, might be causing more people in the country to be apart of the political scene however it creates a false image and performance of politics and diplomacy in one of the leading countries in the world. Mr. Trump’s restored behaviors due to his upbringing and surrounding go to show that these behaviors exhibited by Mr. Trump may be a role he is playing to perform the ideal president he sees fit for this country. This is not to say that Mr. Trump is the only man that has done this, every president before him and after him will be doing this as well, this only goes to highlight the difference in mannerisms the general American public sees fit for the president of the United States. It is incorrect to argue that yes any president has the power to say the things Mr. Trump says and to act the way he does, he is considered to be one of the most powerful men in the world however the modern American ideals are not truthfully represented by his behaviors. He might be a good president for the people of the United States but the ethnics that his position entails are not followed by him. Diplomacy is not an act of putting all your cards on the table and saying ‘I’m stronger than you so you must listen’, it is the act of coming to a compromise for the betterment of two societies. This includes the domestic environment as well as foreign, in the United States democrats and republicans have been at one another’s neck since the parties formed however at the end of the day both party’s morals and ideologies make up America. We see Mr. Trump spill gas on the fire already burning between democrats and republicans by instigating arguments within them. However, the democrats are to blame as much as Mr. Trump because they have been after Mr. Trump since the day he was elected the reason however they pursue I believe could be due to his mannerism and overall attitude. To show this let’s take Donald Trump, Hilary Clinton, and Joe Biden’s recent interactions with one another as an example. All of these individuals are in competition for one another. However, euphorically politicians are supposed to outtalk one another rather than turn the political scene into a kindergarten classroom which we have seen happen in the last couple of years. Going to show that diplomacy has devolved into mere bickering and the performances that individuals go through on the political platform have morphed into something far away from what it traditionally stood for. The sphere of performance traditionally revolved around intellect and human resources rather than trash talking.
This new form of politics raises a dilemma in the fact that it has brought more people into political literacy but on the contrary it has also spurred on a mannerism and behavior of tension which continues to divide a country that has been divided for many years contradicting the many advancements that civil rights activists have done within the last century. To conclude I would like to state that all wars and eras of physical tension began with verbal tension, so we should really consider the type of political environment we would want to foster in our country and in the world.
Reflection
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ABdMiv8sqRwN57Ipz7qil-sfADlyWWPCjSdb4rkm0sg/edit
BIBLIOGRAPHY
- Bloomberg.com, Bloomberg, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-10-07/trump-issues-warning-to-turkey-after-green-light-for-incursion.
Cahn, Emily. “Donald Trump's Most Outrageous Tweets of All Time.” Mashable, Mashable, 21 Mar. 2016, https://mashable.com/2016/03/21/donald-trump-best-tweets/.
Trump, Donald J. “Now That Russian Collusion, after One Year of Intense Study, Has Proven to Be a Total Hoax on the American Public, the Democrats and Their Lapdogs, the Fake News Mainstream Media, Are Taking out the Old Ronald Reagan Playbook and Screaming Mental Stability and Intelligence.....” Twitter, Twitter, 6 Jan. 2018, https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/949616329463615489?ref_src=twsrc^tfw|twcamp^tweetembed|twterm^949616329463615489&ref_url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/best-trump-tweets-772414/.
“Presidency of Donald Trump.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 15 Nov. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Presidency_of_Donald_Trump.