Andrew Harnik, Carolyn Kaster / AP
This morning, Trump used quotation marks for key words in two of his tweets:
- "James Comey better hope that there are no "tapes" of our conversations before he starts leaking to the press!"
- "...Maybe the best thing to do would be to cancel all future "press briefings" and hand out written responses for the sake of accuracy???"
Translation: Trump is aware nobody uses actual tapes to record conversations anymore and Spicer, Sanders and Trump don't actually brief the press.
It's a trend we first noticed in March, when Trump defended his wiretapping accusation on Fox. Here are other times Trump has used quote mark formulations in tweets in 2017.
Jan 3: The "Intelligence" briefing on so-called "Russian hacking" was delayed until Friday, perhaps more time needed to build a case. Very strange!
Jan 4: Jackie Evancho's album sales have skyrocketed after announcing her Inauguration performance.Some people just don't understand the "Movement"
Jan 6: Wow, the ratings are in and Arnold Schwarzenegger got "swamped" (or destroyed) by comparison to the ratings machine, DJT. So much for....
Jan 7: Having a good relationship with Russia is a good thing, not a bad thing. Only "stupid" people, or fools, would think that it is bad!
Jan 17: ... with the massive cost reductions I have negotiated on military purchases and more, I believe the people are seeing "big stuff."
Jan 24: If Chicago doesn't fix the horrible "carnage" going on, 228 shootings in 2017 with 42 killings (up 24% from 2016), I will send in the Feds!
Jan 30: If the ban were announced with a one week notice, the "bad" would rush into our country during that week. A lot of bad "dudes" out there!
Feb 3: Iran is playing with fire - they don't appreciate how "kind" President Obama was to them. Not me!
Feb 9: Chris Cuomo, in his interview with Sen. Blumenthal, never asked him about his long-term lie about his brave "service" in Vietnam. FAKE NEWS!
Feb 16: FAKE NEWS media, which makes up stories and "sources," is far more effective than the discredited Democrats - but they are fading fast!
Mar 2: ...is all of the illegal leaks of classified and other information. It is a total "witch hunt!"
Mar 4: Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!
Mar 7: For eight years Russia "ran over" President Obama, got stronger and stronger, picked-off Crimea and added missiles. Weak! @foxandfriends
Mar 15: Does anybody really believe that a reporter, who nobody ever heard of, "went to his mailbox" and found my tax returns? @NBCNews FAKE NEWS!
Mar 17: North Korea is behaving very badly. They have been "playing" the United States for years. China has done little to help!
(NOTE: This piece was originally published on March 18, 2017 and was updated to reflect the President's latest tweets.)