Trump's Twitter is Bad for America

            Everyday the 45^th president of the United States takes to his twitter account to express his opinions on U.S. domestic and foreign politics. This isn’t a problem.  The 1^st amendment to the constitution guarantees free speech for everyone and this is a right enjoyed by every American citizen. But his position as head of the country coupled with his seeming total lack of censorship can and will continue to cause problems for the whole of America. On the 12^th of January Trump was quoted to have supposedly referred to certain countries in a meeting about the Differed Action Childhood Arrivals program or (DACA) as “shithole countries.”  The average American has become so desensitized to these kinds of statements that this in and of itself doesn’t even seem like that big of a deal anymore. Of course, by 6:28am Trump took to twitter to refute this quote. Other tweets of Trump’s include things like “little rocket man,” “crooked Hillary,” or even suggestions that Kim Jong-un is “short and fat.” To protect the safety of American citizens domestic and abroad, Trumps twitter needs to have restrictions in place to limit the kinds of unsavory tweets that foreign diplomats and even citizens abroad can see.

            Tweets attacking members of U.S. politics only hurts the country. Even before Trump was elected president he was constantly bashing either Hillary Clinton or Obama. This started years back when there were unsubstantiated rumors going around that Obama’s birth certificate was a fake. These kinds of tweets only create more of a divide between the two major parties in our government which in turn expands party polarization and contributes to extremism. If our parties keep growing further and further apart because of polarization, then eventually we will see political members with dangerously far leaning opinions emerge. The farther our republicans and democrats move apart, the more difficult it will become to perform what I think every member of congress and the public would like more of, and that’s the creation of bipartisan bills. Hatred and bigotry only spread because of the president attacking other members of congress and the democratic party which are the opposite of the core values of America. In schools we are taught to be tolerant of others and respect their views and opinions. Trumps tweets send the opposite message and enforce the idea that it’s okay to publicly disrespect those with views opposing your own. These tweets also make our country look bad nationwide. Since WWII the United States has been the worlds super power in both our economy and military strength. Tweets from the President of our country that attack our own members of congress just create an immature image of America in the minds of foreign governments and even their citizens. Nation-wide opinions of America and our government have dropped drastically since Trump took office. This holds true for domestic opinions as well. To see this, you only have to look as far as the Trumps approval ratings.

            Being the world’s superpower gives the United States tremendous responsibility in foreign affairs. Since our country has been in some form of military action since WWII it is crucial to not make any unnecessary mistakes concerning foreign relations with other leaders. Trump’s tweets that attack other countries in the middle east, North Korea, China, and even Russia create an unsafe environment for the citizens of not only our country, but our allies across the globe. South Korea is in a particularly precarious situation with North Korea and Kim Jong-un. Trump antagonizing and tweeting about his nuclear missile button only increases the dangers that the South Korean government faces. Whether or not Trump intentionally created dialogue between the two countries through his harsh rhetoric on twitter doesn’t matter. If it was his intention to do so then it’s still an incredibly dangerous strategy.

            By arguing that Trump should be restricted on the content of his twitter I don’t mean to suggest that the 1^st amendment is wrong or shouldn’t apply to him or that our country show bow to others when facing conflict. I completely support the idea that America can’t appear weak in front of foreign governments. I think that the “fire and fury” tweet was great. It established that our country wouldn’t hesitate to act if North Korea decides to escalate things and was a demonstration to our strength. That being said, I do believe that there should be some restrictions implemented on what Trump can tweet about and maybe even the frequency. The office of president is the most important position in our country and probably even the world. Tweets that give away information to other countries like when he tweeted about the location of some of our air craft carriers put the safety of our people in jeopardy. Many of the daily operations of our government are classified for a reason. Since Trump is so keen on using twitter on a daily basis to express his thoughts, he should learn when to use discretion before something bad happens. If he can’t learn to do this then the other branches of our government should use their constitutional powers to show him how.