Five of US President Donald Trump's most memorable tweets: from covfefe to witch hunt

The president has been indefinitely suspended from the social media platform

Twitter said January 8, 2021, it has permanently suspended President Donald Trump's account, citing the risk of further violence following the assault on the US Capitol by his supporters. AFP

In a move that isn’t all that surprising to some, US President Donald Trump has been permanently suspended from Twitter, with the platform citing “the risk of further incitement of violence” as the reason behind their decision.

Trump had 88.7 million followers prior to his suspension, gaining a growing number of them during his time as president. He was often vocal on Twitter, using it as a way to directly communicate with the American people – sharing policy changes, challenging opponents, and praising allies (and sometimes, himself). He also often used it to hit back at critics.

So now that his account has been wiped clear because of his suspension, we take a look back at some of his more memorable tweets over the years:

On contracting Covid-19

His most popular tweet was when he announced that he and the first lady Melania Trump had contracted coronavirus. The post got 1.8 million likes and nearly 400,000 retweets. It was his most shared post ever.

“Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for Covid-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this together!” he tweeted on October 2, 2020.

On North Korea

Trump was also known to threaten adversaries in the most colourful terms on Twitter. Trump shared a love-hate relationship North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un, he called him "rocket man" and vowed to respond with "fire and fury" if the authoritarian dared attack the United States.

“What would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me “old,” when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?” Oh well, I try so had to be his friend – and maybe someday that will happen!” he tweeted on November 12, 2017.

On covfefe

In one of his most memorable Twitter stumbles, Trump sent (and later deleted) a cryptic after-midnight post in May 2017 that read “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”. While many joked about what the secret meaning could be, to this day no one ever found out as Trump never addressed it.

On fraudulent news

Back in July 2017, Trump shared a GIF of him wrestling in a WWE match and tackling and punching an opponent who had a CNN logo superimposed on his head. He used the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN and #FNN.

On witch-hunt

The president often tweeted well past midnight and before dawn, a cathartic outlet for grievances (Witch hunt! Crooked Hillary, Russia, Russia, Russia, FAKE NEWS, and so on.) Despite the 280-word character limit, this short phrase was one of Trump's most memorable ones.

It became a staple of his defence against the Russia investigation and Ukraine-related impeachment. Casting himself as the perpetual victim, more than once he simply tweeted: “Witch-hunt!”