A common strategy for dealing with trolls on Twitter, since they can’t be reasoned with, is to simply ignore them. It’s the same strategy White House Chief of Staff John Kelly has taken with the President of the United States.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday in Vietnam, Kelly said he doesn’t pay attention to what Trump is tweeting. “Believe it or not, I do not follow the tweets,” Kelly said.
Kelly also said that he prohibits his staff from reacting to Trump’s tweets and does not take them into account when developing policy. “We develop policy in the normal traditional staff way,” he said.
In just the last 24 hours, Trump has called North Korean leader Kim Jong Un “short and fat,” blasted “haters and fools” for criticizing his deferential posture toward Russia and mocked Obama for not having “chemistry” with Putin.
Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me "old," when I would NEVER call him "short and fat?" Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
When will all the haters and fools out there realize that having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. There always playing politics – bad for our country. I want to solve North Korea, Syria, Ukraine, terrorism, and Russia can greatly help!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
Does the Fake News Media remember when Crooked Hillary Clinton, as Secretary of State, was begging Russia to be our friend with the misspelled reset button? Obama tried also, but he had zero chemistry with Putin.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) November 12, 2017
Kelly’s attitude is diametrically opposed to what the White House has said previously. In June, Sean Spicer said that Trump’s tweets should be considered official statements.
“The President is the President of the United States, so they’re considered official statements by the President of the United States,” Spicer said.
This also is the view of the federal judiciary, who cited Trump’s tweets in striking down various version of his Muslim immigration ban.
Spicer’s view is more logical and also appears to match that of the President himself.
In an October interview on Fox Business, Trump defended his use of Twitter to get his message out to the world. “When somebody, says something about me, I am able to go bing, bing, bing and I take care of it. The other way, I would never be get the word out,” Trump said.