A Sentiment Analysis of The Greatest Tweets from the Tweeter-In-Chief

For Trump, Twitter is his pen and his sword. Sometimes it is tipped with ink and at other times with blood, but regardless of which, he is always the loudest bird in the Twitterverse.

Donald Trump used Twitter as a personal soapbox during his campaign and has continued to do so through his presidency with no signs of slowing down, tweeting about his favorite topics including the media, Obamacare, and of course, "the haters and losers," for whom he has a veritable collection of nicknames. It has been a source of both bewilderment and entertainment, giving us an unfiltered look into Trump's id--exactly what is going through his mind at any given time.

It all started innocently enough. He joined the social networking site in March of 2009, when it was only three years old. His very first tweet was not posted by himself but by the publisher of Think Like a Champion Peter Costanzo, who was brainstorming ways to promote the book.

Be sure to tune in and watch Donald Trump on Late Night with David Letterman as he presents the Top Ten List tonight! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 4, 2009

The handle '@DonaldTrump' had already been taken by another user, so Costanzo proposed the handle '@realDonaldTrump' instead. Trump liked the idea and agreed. Costanzo also uploaded the profile photo that still stands today, and he ran the account for eight more months until he left the publishing company. The account then sat mostly dormant for three more years. Starting in 2012, Trump started tweeting more frequently, at times about Obama, but mostly about pointless babble—his Diet Coke habit, his denial of global warming.

In all, his account is home to 36,900 tweets (not all written by him, and some deleted) and 47.5 million followers. He follows 45 users, mainly consisting of family members, White House staff, and Fox News hosts, but also Diamond and Silk, two sisters and former Democrats turned conservative YouTube vloggers who came into prominence for their support of Trump.

Detractors to Trump's use of Twitter include his wife Melania, who, when asked about the one habit she wished he'd give up, responded, "The tweeting." They include Chief of Staff John Kelly, part of whose job is to impose order on the documents and news articles that reach Trump's desk, which include inflammatory content created by members of the alt-right that he has read and retweeted.

Yet in spite of the critics from the left and from his own circle, Trump has continued to tweet. He has used it has a platform to speak to and connect with voters; when he tweets, people know they're hearing directly from him. He has used it as a weapon, intimidating rivals and throwing off critics. But most importantly, he has used it to capture the attention of voters bombarded by a dizzying array of information. With a couple taps, Trump generates the news. He drives the conversation. He is always in control of the storyline.