The president always acts as though things are getting along just fine, no matter how poorly things are really going. He has a public image to protect, after all, and he’s willing to dispense of reality for the sake of making himself seem better off and more competent than he really is.
To that end, he’s continuously claimed to be presiding over unprecedented economic growth in the U.S., although it most certainly does have a precedent in the Obama era. Just this week, the Commerce Department released their preliminary estimates for GDP growth in the fourth quarter of 2017, showing growth to have slowed in the fourth quarter, finishing below the levels of the third quarter of 2016, when Obama was still president.
Even still, the president seems continuously lost in a self-aggrandizing fantasy land anyway.
On Friday, after having addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Trump tweeted about his return to the U.S., summing up his time overseas in suspiciously glowing terms.
He wrote:
‘Heading back from a very exciting two days in Davos, Switzerland. Speech on America’s economic revival was well received. Many of the people I met will be investing in the U.S.A.!
#MAGA’
Although Trump asserts that his time overseas for the World Economic Forum went smoothly, the facts tell a different story.
In a soundbite that will no doubt be shared over and over again in weeks and months to come, our ever obsessive president proved himself unable to restrain from attacking the press for even the seemingly briefest moment.
Speaking on the last day of the economic gathering, Trump commented:
”I’ve always seemed to get for whatever reason, a disproportionate amount of press or media, and – throughout my whole life – somebody will explain some day why, but I’ve always gotten a lot… And it wasn’t until I became a politician that I realized how nasty, how mean, how vicious, and how fake the press can be.’
Trump’s comments drew reported audible boos from some of the non-U.S. journalists present, as well as gasps and boos from some of those in the crowd — although according to the Daily Mail, some crowd members booed at journalists, backing up the belligerent U.S. president.
Even if he found a few supporters among the crowd members, trustworthiness is a key component to economic motivation.
How can the vast majority of overseas business interests trust the president to stick to his word on economic issues when he can’t even maintain a grasp of reality decent enough so as to keep him from calling the mainstream media “fake”? Angry Twitter tirades aren’t the hallmark of a solid trading partner.
Within minutes of his tweet claiming his trip to Davos to have been a rousing success, Trump again took to the social media platform to lambaste Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who he’s nicknamed “Cryin’ Chuck Schumer.”
How can anyone think that such behavior is going to make foreign interests excited about investing in the U.S. and getting wrapped up with the Trump admin?
The answer is that it won’t. Besides, many of the economic investments that the president has pointed to in the past as supposed evidence of the success of his policies have been proven to have absolutely nothing to do with him.
Check out Twitter’s response to the president below.
Featured Image via Jason Alden/ Bloomberg via Getty Images
