#TrumpStyle: The Political Frames and Twitter Attacks of Donald Trump

Abstract

On January 20^th, 2017, Donald J. Trump was inaugurated as the 45^thPresident of the United States. No recent U.S. President has consistently engaged the U.S. media in such an adversarial way. Donald Trump’s personality, combined with the still emerging social media platform of Twitter, has thrown a rhetorical Molotov cocktail into the house of the body politic.

This exploration of Trump’s Twitter rhetoric in regards to the U.S. media is important in three regards: (1) Twitter is now officially ensconced as a legitimate and effective political tool. (2) Twitter is now the primary avenue for dissemination of political propaganda and “talking points” and (3) When weaponized, Twitter can completely fracture the public and tangibly alter the reality/perceptions of a non-discerning public, to the point of embracing the most outlandish conspiracy theories or political narratives.  In addressing these issues and contributing to current scholarship, this paper will utilize framing theory to engage in a content analysis of Trump’s “Fake News” tweets. In doing so, we should gain a better understanding of how Donald Trump uses 180 characters to develop allies, engage his opposition, promote his agenda, respond to criticism and define himself.