UK-based data visualisation company Zegami has released an analysis of US President Donald Trump’s surge in tweeting behaviour in the midst of a deepening political crisis.
The company reviewed every tweet President Trump has issued between 18 July 2009 and 28 August 2019 (over 40,000). On average during this period he posted around 11 a day (10.67). However, between 25 May 2019 and 27 August 2019, faced with a growing number of challenges, this increased to 20 a day – an 83% increase.
Key findings suggest that many of his Tweets are spontaneous, with little input from his advisors. Of some 1,800 tweets he posted between the end of May and August this year, 98% were from his iPhone, and 14.6% were issued between the hours of 1am and 5am.
Subject matter of recent tweets
Between 25 May 2019 and 28 August 2019, Donald Trump tweeted 105 times about China and the current trade war with them. He also posted 26 tweets about the Federal Reserve as he exerts pressure on them to cut interest rates, and there were also six personal tweets about Jay Powell and his performance as Federal Reserve Chair. In one post at the end of August, he posted ‘my only question is who is our bigger enemy, Jay Powell or Chairman Xi?’
Despite not being the radar recently, President Trump also managed to issue 32 tweets where he mentioned Hilary Clinton, and 26 tweets mentioning Barack Obama.
Between May 2019 and 28 August 2019, the three heaviest days of Twitter activity were:
- 11 May 2019 (71 Tweets) (this came on a day when Trump was travelling to his golf club in Virginia)
- 1 May 2019 (68 Tweets) (The day Attorney General William Barr appeared before the judicial committee answering questions about the Mueller report)
- 12 July 2019 (54 Tweets) (Alex Acosta, US Labour Secretary resigns over role in Epstein case.)
President Trump’s top mentions of all time are:
- @realDonaldTrump (8638 mentions)
- @barackobama (616 times)
- @foxnews (587 times)
Additional findings of interest include:
- He has mentioned Trump (himself) 225 this year, while God has received only 22 mentions.
- Former President Obama has received 59 mentions this year, whereas ‘wife’ has got just 11.
- ‘Fake News Media’ remain an active focus, with 55 mentions.
“Donald Trump is clearly a prolific force on Twitter, and as he has faced up to growing challenges in recent weeks, he has dramatically increased his use of this social media channel,” said Samuel Conway, CEO and co-founder of Zegami.
“Analysing his Twitter data and spotting trends and patterns visually gives us an insightful view into how he thinks and what motivates him.”
