President Donald Trump has devoted much of May to the war with Iran and his ongoing efforts to completely bend the Republican Party to his will, Declan Bradley and Gregory Swirnowski write for "Politico".
But the president had other things on his mind.
A look at every single post Trump posted last month on Truth Social, the platform he owns, reveals a president focused not just on foreign policy but also on beautifying the nation's capital.
In May, the President Posted 80 Posts Related to Planned Renovations and Renovations in Washington, D.C. — more than the combined number of posts about election integrity, immigration, or crime in American cities. That pace underscores his interest in sweeping changes to the capital — from building a grand ballroom at the White House to repainting the National Mall’s Reflecting Pool “blue like the American flag.”
"Washington is reawakening to its beauty, elegance, and charm," he wrote in a May 20 post. "The grandest of all the projects will be the Mirror Pool - 2,500 feet long and almost 200 feet wide, the largest such facility ever built, but also the most problematic for many administrations, because since its construction in 1922 it has practically never functioned properly!".
However, he has devoted most of his attention to his ongoing quest to shape the Republican Party in his image. The most common type of posts have been related to "Trump's Republican Party" - supporting candidates at lower electoral levels, celebrating his successes and attacking people who have opposed him, such as Congressman Thomas Massie of Kentucky, who lost to a Trump-backed challenger in the party's primary.
The unusual way in which Trump uses social media is far from new. For years, he has expressed his thoughts publicly — first on Twitter and now on Truth Social — in a stream-of-consciousness manner. But his long-standing social media presence probably offers the best insight into his priorities as president and the topics that capture his attention.
White House spokeswoman Olivia Wells said Truth Social is “an important way the president communicates directly and authentically with the American people and the world.”
“Americans have never had a president as transparent as President Trump, who shares his thoughts with them in real time on all the important issues of the day,” she said.
For the analysis, journalists cataloged every post the president made in May and categorized them by major topics, including the economy, criticism of the media, and foreign affairs. No artificial intelligence was used to describe the posts, and each post was included in only one main category, even when it touched on multiple topics.
The three-month-old conflict with Iran also remains a leading topic in his posts. In May, Trump posted 68 posts on the topic, repeatedly stressing the need for Iran not to acquire a nuclear weapon and demonstrating confidence that he can achieve peace.
"If I make a deal with Iran, it will be a good and right deal, not like Obama's deal, which gave Iran huge amounts of MONEY and a clear and open path to nuclear weapons," he wrote on May 24. "Our deal is the exact opposite, but no one has seen it and no one knows what it is. It's not even fully agreed upon yet. So don't listen to the losers who criticize something they know absolutely nothing about. Unlike those before me who should have solved this problem years ago, I don't make bad deals!".
Images and visual symbolism - from apparently AI-generated images of Trump's face on Mount Rushmore to authentic photos of himself in front of the American flag - make up the third largest category of posts.
One of them stands out in particular: an AI-generated image of the president walking alongside a muscular alien in the vicinity of the infamous Area 51.
The president's profile was most active between 10:00 PM and 11:00 PM in May, with over 78 posts made during that time frame.
Other main themes also stand out. Trump has written 55 times about alleged abuses and corruption among his political opponents, which represents about 7% of all his posts.
He has insulted Democrats 32 times and has published 29 posts related to election integrity.
The president has made 22 posts on the economy and cost of living, 11 on immigration, and 17 on other domestic policy topics.
Nine posts have been devoted to his own health, including his recent medical checkups at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center and his cognitive test results.