NPR

President Donald Trump, Unreliable Narrator

Why can't we stop reading Trump's Twitter feed? The same reason we can't put down The Catcher In The Rye or Pale Fire.
Unlike most presidents, who keep the public at arm's-length, President Trump appears to let us into his head with his constant tweeting. / SAUL LOEB / Getty Images

President Trump did it again on Twitter late last week.

"I am being investigated for firing the FBI Director by the man who told me to fire the FBI Director! Witch Hunt," he tweeted Friday morning.

Once again, a Trump tweet set off a media frenzy, this time making everyone wonder whether he was indeed confirming that he was under investigation for obstruction of justice. (The White House later said the tweet was not confirmation that Trump has been informed that he is under investigation.)

This isn't the first time that Trump has made trouble for himself in his tweets (see: the tweet that a judge recently cited in once again blocking Trump's travel ban). But his tweets are more than a potential legal liability, and they're even more than fodder for the occasional breaking news alert — his Twitter feed is groundbreaking in that he seems to be letting us inside his head. And in doing so, he is the first president to narrate his presidency in real time.

But he is not just any kind of storyteller. He peppers those tweets with things that most politicians strain to hide: factual

You’re reading a preview, subscribe to read more.

More from NPR

NPR2 min read
Columbia Students Barricade Themselves In Campus Building; China's EV Vehicles
Pro-Palestinian student protesters have occupied a campus building. Electric vehicles are the newest front of competition between the U.S. and China.
NPR3 min readInternational Relations
Protesters At Columbia University Have Begun Occupying A Campus Building
Students began occupying Hamilton Hall early Tuesday morning. The university's public safety department urged people to avoid coming to the Morningside campus Tuesday if they could.
NPR4 min read
Scientists Restore Brain Cells Impaired By A Rare Genetic Disorder
A therapy that restores brain cells impaired by a rare genetic disorder may offer a strategy for treating conditions like autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.

Related Books & Audiobooks