President Franklin Delano Roosevelt had his fireside chats on the radio. President Ronald Reagan appeared often before a national TV audience. In 2019, President Trump makes himself heard on his @realDonaldTrump Twitter account.
We at Cheddar decided to take a look at a few of the president's most popular pronouncements on the platform this year.
'Get home ASAP A$AP!'
In the midst of a global uproar over the detention of rapper A$AP Rocky in Sweden, President Trump inserted himself into the discussion and called for his release. Swedish authorities detained Rocky over an assault charge. Once the Harlem rapper was allowed to return to the states, President Trump rolled out the red carpet with a pun, tweeting "A$AP Rocky released from prison and on his way home to the United States from Sweden. It was a Rocky Week, get home ASAP A$AP!"
As it stands, this tweet is President Trump's most liked and most retweeted in 2019.
Trump the heavyweight
Did you ever think you would be talking about a shirtless photo of the President of the United States? President Trump tweeted — with no caption — a photo of his face superimposed on a picture of Sylvester Stallone as fictional boxer Rocky Balboa. This one came at the end of November, after the first round of damaging House Intelligence impeachment hearings. Without using words, it seemed to declare 'I am a heavyweight.' Additionally, the tweet followed news reports that President Trump had a health scare after a surprise trip to a DC hospital.
The boxer tweet is President Trump's fourth most retweeted and third most liked in 2019.
Every dog has its day
One military dog made it onto the president's Twitter feed after a high-stakes raid in Syria. President Trump tweeted "We have declassified a picture of the wonderful dog (name not declassified) that did such a GREAT JOB in capturing and killing the Leader of ISIS, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi!" The picture came after a revealing presidential address that described how the U.S. military took down the ISIS leader in Syria. The pictured K9 helped track down and chase Al-Baghdadi but was injured on the mission. After making a full recovery, the dog's name was ultimately declassified and revealed to be Conan.
President Trump, First Lady Melania Trump, and Vice President Mike Pence all honored Conan at a White House Rose Garden event in November.
The tweet showing Conan earned President Trump his fifth-most retweets and his fourth-most likes.
Tensions in Ukraine continue to rise. According to NATO and U.S. officials, Russian troops are still being built up despite Moscow's claims of de-escalation. However, Ukraine does not believe the troops are enough to mount an invasion. The government in Kyiv has also reported several cyber attacks against its defense agencies and banks which is the largest attack in the country's history. Foreign Affairs Reporter based in Ukrain, Terrell Starr, joined Cheddar to discuss more
A Senate bill unveiled on Wednesday looks to tackleonline safety for children by regulating Big Tech and social media platforms to deter users from content that can harm their mental health. Irene Ly, a policy counsel for the age-based ratings and review organization Common Sense Media, joined Cheddar News to break down the potential of the Kids Online Safety Act. "We can't be imposing such a big burden on parents to be doing it all on theirselves," Ly said. "I think you also have to keep in mind that parents often didn't grow up with social media, so they don't understand what it's like to be addicted to social media or really understand how they work."
The Federal Reserve minutes from its January meeting are indicating it's sticking to an interest rate hike in March, but what does the report coupled with ongoing inflation mean for investors going forward? Scott Brown, a market strategist at LPL Financial, joined Cheddar News to break down the minutes and talk about how investors might navigate the rest of the year. "it seems like the market is kind of inclined to trade off these headlines, really, through the first half of the year," he said. "And then, oh, don't forget, we've got midterm elections, which always tend to add a little bit of volatility in the second half of the year." Brown noted that the path forward for stock investors in 2022 would be "rockier" than last year.
Senators Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) have introduced a new bill to afford greater protection to minors on social media. The genesis of the Kids Online Safety Act came from a Facebook whistleblower case exposing the harm apps can have on the mental health of young girls.
The Chinese government brought the sitcom "Friends" back to its streaming services. However, it had instances of LGBTQ+ references left out, after the series had been banned on Chinese streaming platforms for years.
Prime Minister Justin Trudeau declared a national public order emergency as a 'last resort' to restore order after protests have significantly disrupted daily life and impacted the local economy since the protests began. It is the first time in 50 years a Canadian government has taken this type of action. Myah Ward, breaking news reporter at Politico, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
Almost a decade after facing a parent's worst nightmare, the families of the young students killed in the Sandy Hook School shooting reached a settlement with gun manufacturer Remington, makers of the Bushmaster AR-15 used in the crime. David Pucino, deputy chief counsel, Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence joined Cheddar News to discuss the families' case and how its strategy brought about the legal settlement. "They built a really great case showing the way that Bushmaster developed its advertising to drive sales using those toxic messages.
A new analysis reveals that for more than two decades, the West has been the driest it has ever been since 800 A.D. The drought which began in 2000 has brought more devastating wildfires and draining water reserves well below healthy levels. Climate Scientists and Adjunct Associate Research Scientist at Lamont Doherty Earth Observatory at Columbia University,Benjamin Cook, joined Cheddar to discuss more.
