Sarah Wasko / Media Matters
President Donald Trump left the White House December 22 for an extended holiday vacation at Mar-a-Lago, his private club in Palm Beach, Florida. Along with daily games of golf at Trump International Golf Club and an appearance at Mar-a-Lago’s ethically dubious New Year’s Eve party, the president found time to regularly engage in one of his favorite pastimes: watching Fox News programming and tweeting about it.
I traced 12 of Trump’s tweets from December 22 through his January 1 return to the capital to Fox segments Trump appeared to be watching at the time. Trump live-tweeted various Fox programs on eight of the 11 days he spent on vacation. He even seems to have tweeted based on a segment he watched on Air Force One en route to Florida.
With some of these tweets, the president simply continued his ongoing feuds with the media and the FBI. But others could have real ramifications for U.S. foreign policy and domestic politics. In response to Fox’s programming, Trump tweeted about protests in Iran, issued an ultimatum to Democrats over immigration policy, attacked China over its handling of North Korea, and endorsed a Republican congressman for governor of Florida.
Trump loves Fox & Friends, the network’s morning show, often holding up the program’s shockingly sycophantic anchors as a model that other, more critical journalists should emulate.
The day before he left for Florida, Trump praised the program’s anchors for being named the “most influential media figures” by Mediaite. The anchors received that designation because of Trump, who watched the program obsessively, frequently tweeting about what he saw.
And indeed, Trump tweeted based on Fox & Friends and its weekend editions on December 22, December 24, December 26, December 28, December 29, and December 31.
Here are the Trump tweets and the associated Fox segments:
December 22
12/22
Left, Fox & Friends, 6:18 am
Right, Trump, 9:17 am pic.twitter.com/AmP4faYZ57— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
12/22
Left, Fox, 11:13 am
Right, Trump, 1:40 pm pic.twitter.com/PqTcEjUkc3— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 23
12/23
Left, Fox, 2:29 pm
Right, Trump, 3:32 pm pic.twitter.com/bBoliKa2Ev— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 24
12/24
Left, Fox & Friends, 7:04 am
Right, Trump, 7:25 am pic.twitter.com/dW2QBmrsIW— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 25
12/25
Three Merry Christmas tweets, and this claim that he was going back to work. He wasn't. pic.twitter.com/HHM8BnsC2V— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 26
12/26
Left, Fox & Friends, 7:37 am
Right, Trump, 8:24 am
(Quote is very rough.) pic.twitter.com/os6cJv3MzY— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
Another caption from that segment: pic.twitter.com/6Vc4Pbikma
— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 27
12/27
The president did not tweet about things he was watching on television. There were problems with the statistics he tweeted, though. https://t.co/Pnrlahx1bb pic.twitter.com/hfoeYXlXuA— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 28
12/28
Left, Fox & Friends, 6:33 am
Right, Trump, 10:24 am pic.twitter.com/JWDgg7WNGX— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
Alright, I'll take a break from vacation for this.
Fox, left, 11:18 am
Trump, right, 11:24 am
Around 11:20 am, Dem strategist mentions China selling oil to North Korea. pic.twitter.com/cq4HSfm6MU— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 28, 2017
12/28
Left, Fox, 6:28 pm
Right, Trump, 7:01 pm
I'm less certain about this one than I am with most of the others. pic.twitter.com/J19s9B85TZ— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 29
Every time I try to get out, they drag me back in.
Left, Fox & Friends, 7:17 am
Right, Trump, 7:46 am pic.twitter.com/3pUGhYgvXA— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 29, 2017
12/29
Friends, I think I solved the mystery of Trump's post office tweet.
Left, Fox & Friends, 6:56 am
Right, Trump, 8:04 am pic.twitter.com/JkMFQHhKAv— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
12/29
Left, Fox & Friends, 6:17 am
Right, Trump, 8:16 am
Guest says, “Donald Trump has to say, we will not have a DACA deal unless you give me full funding for this southern wall.”
Then Trump tweets it. pic.twitter.com/5EDobm2c0b— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 30
12/30
As far as I can tell, no Fox livetweeting.— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
December 31
Trump is closely monitoring the situation in Iran. By which I mean:
Left, Fox & Friends, 7:47 am
Right, Trump, 8:03 am pic.twitter.com/DjoRqcmQxf— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) December 31, 2017
January 1
1/1
No Fox livetweets from Trump.— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
After returning to Washington, D.C., yesterday, the president seems to have spent much of the morning live-tweeting Fox & Friends and Fox’s America’s Newsroom:
Taking a time-out from Trump's vacation tweets to track today's.
Left, Fox & Friends, 6:24 am
Right, Trump, 7:48 am pic.twitter.com/uQQXeAtOf4— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
Left, Fox & Friends, 8:17 am
Right, Trump, 8:44 am pic.twitter.com/DY7vcQ7uLq— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
“It was just reported”
Left, Fox & Friends, 7:24 am
Right, Trump, 9:13 am pic.twitter.com/4vc65VKyju— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
Left, Fox & Friends, 8:26 am
Scalise: “You can go to my website and see a list of dozens and dozens of companies that are giving bonuses to workers.”
Right, Trump, 8:49 am pic.twitter.com/vjVrqdI0ol— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018
Left, Fox, 9:05 am
Right, Trump, 9:08 am pic.twitter.com/2FMr1I1g5B— Matthew Gertz (@MattGertz) January 2, 2018