For Trump, a clear schedule does not mean a quiet day

WASHINGTON – It was supposed to be a private, calm day for President Donald Trump, with no public events on his agenda.

Instead, using Twitter's virtual slingshot, the president launched a shootout of grievances, insults, boasting, and denials from inside the fortress at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue.

"Horseface", "Pocahontas", "" witch hunt "," said Trump in a dozen tweets that he sent before Tuesday noon.

Later in the day, and on a more serious and controversial note, Trump sent two tweets informing the world that Crown Prince Mohammad bin Salman, the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, had "totally denied any knowledge" the disappearance of Washington Post reporter Jamal Khashoggi from his country's consulate in Turkey – even though Republican senators have been saying for days that they believe that bin Salman did Khashoggi's murder.

For supporters of the president, such explosions – which have become familiar, even quite regular – remind that the president is at work, ready at any time to protect his allies and to fight his opponents. For his critics, they are proof that he is disturbed.

Theories abound: perhaps it's just boring if there's no campaign rally, meeting with a foreign leader or bill signing ceremony to role, or maybe he does not like being outside the center of national attention for a very long time. long.

Motivation and strategy can be a mystery even for loved ones – or at least they seem reluctant to talk about his penchant for conversation: Several current and former White House officials have not responded to the demands of the NBC to comment on what prompted the president to turn a holiday in the West Wing into a social-secret match.

Trump began her day on predictable ground, taunting Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., Who on Monday released DNA evidence showing that she is almost certainly a small fraction of Native American ancestry. Trump, mocking his claims on this legacy, calls it "Pocahontas" and the Republicans – and some Democrats – quickly argued that DNA testing had actually made it worse by using heritage. Native American on work forms.

In the second of three tweets on the subject, Trump, who had promised earlier this year to donate $ 1 million to the charity chosen by Warren if she could prove that she is "an Indian," Warren said. should be excused for committing this fraud "the the American people.

From there he moved on to immigration, threatening to cut off foreign aid to Honduras if an immigrant caravan was crossing the US border – even if he needed Congress to do it. – and quoting a Washington editorial Examine the congratulatory for having tried. prevent unaccompanied minors crossing the US border from being released by criminals.

Then he mixed and matched themes.

He touted the analysis of Charles V. Payne in Fox News, claiming that there were eight times as many new manufacturing jobs in the United States under Trump as President Barack Obama – the number of people in the US. Jobs in the manufacturing sector is now about 1.5% higher than that of Obama. in the office.

He argued that his response to the Khashoggi case had not been influenced by his business relations, as he had no financial interest in Saudi Arabia (or even Russia).

In the past, Trump has touted the profits he has made through his agreements with the Saudi government and its citizens.

And then before two posts on "witch hunt" – his description of the investigation of the special advocate Robert Mueller on the question of whether Trump or his allies collaborated with Russia during the 39, election of 2016 or then prevented justice – Trump attacked Stormy Daniels, the actress paid $ 130,000 to keep silent about his allegations that they had an affair.

"Horseface," he called, his alleged ex-girlfriend, "she knows nothing about me."

Daniels responded with a Tweet calling Trump "Tiny".

In the end, Trump began tweeting about the mid-term elections, a topic that upset the political class in Washington.

Just three weeks before the vote, he added some notes on electoral politics. He retweeted one of his son Eric Trump's supporters requests to sign up to vote and proclaimed that John James, a Republican Senate candidate in Michigan, was on the rise according to polls showing a reduction in the gap between him and Senator Debbie Stabenow, was over 50% in each public inquiry.

By the end of the work day, Trump had released 16 tweets covering a wide range of topics and individuals, but with a primary purpose: himself.