Naval War College prof explains how Trump’s ‘stress’ tweets are a roadmap for America’s enemies
Of the many revelations from former acting Attorney General Sally Yates’ Senate hearing on May 8, Naval War College professor Tom Nichols said in a series of tweets that President Donald Trump’s response might have been the most interesting.
The 14-tweet-long thread begins with Nichols explaining his background as a “Sovietologist”, and how he “would have given anything for Andropov or Gorbachev to give me a running narrative of their mood and inner thoughts in real time” the way Trump appears to have done with his tweets about Yates following her testimony.
He went on to say that the president’s Twitter feed “is basically a raw feed of POTUS thoughts to foreign analysts” because they are “pieces of the president’s moods and thoughts that day”.
“This only occurred to me today as I realized how easily POTUS tweets were giving me a minute by minute image of his reactions to Yates,” Nichols tweeted, and then added “this is the kind of instant leadership portrait that I wouldn’t want a foreign nation to have when gaming out a crisis with us.”
“It is, from a foreign intel analyst’s viewpoint, in some ways probably more valuable than classified memos,” Nichols tweeted. “It’s real and instant.”
He said Trump’s tweets broadcast “how the President reacts under stress,” which is “something you never want the enemy to know”. Nevertheless, Nichols tweeted, “it’s all out there, every day”.
After an aside about “how the President processes information” and how valuable that kind of information can be, he completed the thread by saying that while it’s not his place to “tell the President how to communicate,” he finds “hugely dangerous in revealing real-time POTUS reactions”.
Read Nichols’ entire thread below.
I am often astonished at the President’s tweets, and how he calls media in his own country as “fake news.” But there’s something else /1
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
I was a Sovietologist back in the day. I was constantly trying to unpack what I thought was happening behind the Kremlin’s walls. /2
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
I would have given anything for Andropov or Gorbachev to give me a running narrative of their mood and inner thoughts in real time. /3
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
As an analyst, including my time years ago as a CIA consultant doing research in the 80s, I’d have considered that a gold mine. /4
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
And I wonder if, and or how, anyone is considering the fact that this is basically a raw feed of POTUS thoughts to foreign analysts. /5
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
Because while none of the matters are classified – at least AFAIK – tweets are pieces of the president’s moods and thoughts that day. /6
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
This only occurred to me today as I realized how easily POTUS tweets were giving me a minute by minute image of his reactions to Yates. /7
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
This is the kind of instant leadership portrait that I wouldn’t want a foreign nation to have when gaming out a crisis with us. /8
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
Americans might well appreciate the candor. But I thought Obama did too much thinking out loud in front of cameras. This is far more. /9
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
It is, from a foreign intel analyst’s viewpoint, in some ways probably more valuable than classified memos. It’s real and instant. /10
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
It shows how the President reacts under stress. It’s something you never want the enemy to know. And yet it’s all out there, every day. /11
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
It’s also a window into how the President processes information – or how he doesn’t process info he doesn’t like. Solid gold info. /12
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
These are all things I would have given anything to know, even just a fraction of this, in an analysis of any Soviet or Russia leader. /13
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
It’s not for me to tell the President how to communicate. But I find something hugely dangerous in revealing real-time POTUS reactions. /14x
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 9, 2017
This week, Rep. Seth Moulton (D-MA), a decorated Marine Corps veteran who served in the Iraq War and is now running for president, received an interesting present from the Republican National Committee. GOP chairwoman Ronna McDaniel wrote to him demanding that Democrats respect the American flag.
"In recent weeks it has become increasingly clear that the proper respect and handling for the United States flag is an issue for the Democrat [sic] Party," read the letter. "The American flag is a powerful symbol of freedom and independence that many have died to protect. It deserves to be treated as such."
The Swedish ambassador to America hilariously trolled President Donald Trump with a message that in her country, nobody is above the law.
Trump had lashed out at Sweden on Friday, for not releasing American recording artist A$AP Rocky.
"Very disappointed in Prime Minister Stefan Löfven for being unable to act. Sweden has let our African American Community down in the United States. I watched the tapes of A$AP Rocky, and he was being followed and harassed by troublemakers. Treat Americans fairly!" he demanded, adding the hashtag #FreeRocky.
Karin Olofsdotter, Sweden's ambassador to the United States, responded to Trump on Twitter.
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