President Donald Trump is exposing his vulnerabilities through his social media posts and live TV remarks, according to New York Times White House correspondent Tyler Pager.
“Most presidents deal with international crises in private — at most, they might release a carefully crafted statement. That has never been Mr. Trump’s style,” Pager said. “With this president, the entire world gets a view into his thoughts, gripes, and whims in ways that are often reminiscent of a chronically online millennial.”
The correspondent, who was reporting from the NATO summit, noted how the posts come “at all hours” and offer a “window into his psyche, a trove of insight into the intentions, moods, and vulnerabilities of the commander in chief.”
While the administration touts this window as making Trump “the most transparent and accessible president in American history,” Pager believes it causes several “complications.”
“He can inadvertently set off diplomatic crises, leave aides and allies out of step with his messages and, as was the case with his open musing over the past two weeks about bombing Iran, make his posts and public statements a threat to operational security,” Pager warned.
The correspondent then railed against several of Trump’s posts, like his warning to Israel: “DO NOT DROP THOSE BOMBS. IF YOU DO IT IS A MAJOR VIOLATION.”
Pager called this a “wild reshaping” of how the White House communicates with the world.
But it’s not just his posts, Pager says, that give the world a look into his “vulnerabilities,” but also the way he appears on TV. Shortly after the Truth Social warning to Israel, Trump “unloaded to reporters on both Israel and Iran” for failing to keep the ceasefire in place.
Trump then “proceeded to post more than two dozen times on social media over the course of his six-hour-and-twenty-minute flight to the Netherlands,” Pager said.
The correspondent added, “Whether impulsive, canny or some combination, his openness has benefits, from rallying his base to keeping opponents off balance to simply dominating public attention.”