American legal experts have spent decades fretting over how a lunatic President with his finger on the nuclear button might be stopped.
But Donald Trump in 2026 represents an even bigger problem. What can you do about a maniac Commander-in-Chief with a smartphone in his palm?
Global leaders tend to have legions of consultants crafting every public statement, carefully weighing the impact of every word.
But Donald Trump, alone with his iPhone in the early hours, often sprays out world-altering, error-riddled messages – in one post last month, he misspelt ‘which’ as ‘witch’ and, last week, wrote ‘reign’ instead of ‘rain’ – just because he’s bored or frustrated.
This is stressful enough for Trump’s advisers in normal times. But in the middle of a war – when the President is threatening to bomb the Iranians ‘back to the Stone Age’ one moment, and abruptly announcing possible ceasefires the next – it’s an administrative nightmare which can have a seismic effect on global markets.
There can sometimes be method, or strategy, behind Trump’s online shenanigans. Last year, photos revealed that a handwritten note handed to Trump by Secretary of State Marco Rubio read: ‘Approve Truth Social post.’
During office hours, Trump tends to dictate his social output to two of his most trusted aides – the so-called ‘human printer’ Natalie Harp (nicknamed because of her tendency to lug around a printer to furnish Trump with paper copies of information he needs), and his former golf caddy, now deputy chief of staff, Dan Scavino.
These messages still contain the usual Trump flourishes, the UNPREDICTABLE CAPITALISATION, the jaw-dropping insults, and the ‘thank you for your attention in this matter!’ sign-offs. The clue is that Scavino and Harp pay more attention to details than their boss, which tends to mean fewer typos and glaring errors.
Donald Trump’s world-altering, error-riddled messages can be an administrative nightmare which can have a seismic effect on global markets, writes Freddy Gray
One of Trump’s Truth Social posts that was deleted, fixed and shared again – but social media users spotted the misspelling of ‘which’ as ‘witch’
Another Truth Social post from Trump discussing Iran, where he writes ‘reign’ instead of ‘rain’
But the worry among many of his more serious-minded staff is that, far from tempering his output – or ‘reigning’ him in, as Trump might spell it – the President’s ever-smaller inner circle encourages him to be crazier online. It’s their idea of fun. Take, for instance, his already infamous Easter Sunday message, delivered at 8.03am: ‘Open the F***in’ Strait, you crazy b*****ds, or you’ll be living in Hell.’
The fact that he added, ‘Praise be to Allah’ may have been his own comedic flourish, especially as he signed off ‘President DONALD J. TRUMP’, which is thought to be a sign that he did the tapping.
But by that time in the morning – quite late by Trump standards – it is likely that someone else was near him, urging him on to set the world’s hair on fire. Yet much of Trump’s posting seems to go unchecked. One night in December, the President posted 160 times between 7pm and midnight and he frequently fires out statements into the early hours, when advisers are unlikely to be present.
When not typing on his phone, Trump is talking into it. Hundreds, maybe thousands, of reporters now have his mobile number – and, incredibly, he answers to just about anyone who calls, especially on weekends or in out-of-office hours.
Journalists also often find that Trump will put them on loudspeaker so others in the room can hear him giving out quotes in real time.
But like all great egoists, Trump’s favourite messaging style is the social media post. It’s something he’s been doing since the 2000s. And from 2016 to 2020, his first presidential term effectively turned into a Twitter war between him and the ‘fake news’ media. White House advisers would wake every morning dreading what their boss may have tweeted overnight.
But in his second term, Trump is now older, more powerful, and more bonkers. Worse, he has his own media platform, Truth Social (which generates minimal revenue through advertising and is currently unprofitable), from which he can say whatever he wants and nobody can stop him.
There’s been a lot of speculation in recent days that Trump has deliberately been mixing his messages of war and peace to play havoc with the markets so that his closest pals and family members – including his sons Donald Jr, Eric and Barron – can make millions on the financial exchanges or gambling websites.
Hundreds, maybe thousands, of reporters now have mobile number – and, incredibly, he answers to just about anyone who calls
Certainly, Iran’s leadership appears to believe that’s the case. Last week, Mohammad-Bagher Ghalibaf, speaker of the Iranian Parliament, advised his own online followers: ‘Heads-up: Pre-market so-called ‘news’ or ‘Truth’ is often just a setup for profit-taking. Basically, it’s a reverse indicator.
‘Do the opposite: If they pump it, short it [bet against the market]. If they dump it, go long.’
In other words, the game may be up. Trump’s erratic media output has long been an important part of his ‘mad man’ approach to world affairs. By appearing to be out of control and unpredictable, he confuses opponents and makes them desperate.
The worry in Washington is that, as his enemies become wise to his turbulent messaging techniques, his communications become ever more extreme and irrational to generate the desired effect.
At a certain point, too, the online performance becomes the most visible aspect of the presidency. Now that he is sliding ever further into his first protracted military conflict, that’s a terrifying dynamic.
- Freddy Gray is deputy editor of The Spectator
