Donald Trump：A 'Modern Day' US President

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By CGTN's World Insight

From the moment Donald Trump declared he would join the presidential election, very few believed he would make it to the Oval Office. In the past 50 years, Trump has been the only billionaire-turned president. He made his fortune in real estate but become a household-name thanks to his TV series The Apprentice. .

During the presidential campaign, Trump offended women, Muslims, Hispanic Americans and the disabled, yet he still won the election.

US President Donald Trump and his wife Melania Trump /CFP Photo

Trump dismissed traditional values cherished by most US politicians. He is not a supporter of globalization, turning his back on the US climate change deals, challenging the traditional alliance between the US and Europe.

However, what really drew the line between Trump and other US presidents is his relationship with the mainstream US media. He derided most media outlets who didn't flatter him during his election campaign.

Last week, he accused a host of MSNBC, Mika Brzezinski, the daughter of a late national security adviser, of courting him for in interview while "bleeding badly from a facelift."

CGTN Photo

His war against CNN has gone to a new level, from calling them fake news to posting a doctored video from a professional wrestling event of him wrestling to the ground a man with a CNN logo for a head.

While other US presidents usually made statements through their press secretary or by doing so in person at press conferences, Trump has made full use of social media to announce to the world what's on his mind.

Though polls show that more and more Americans are uncomfortable with his Twitter attacks, he defended himself, saying "My use of social media is not Presidential--it's MODERN DAY PRESIDENTIAL."

“He coined the phrase ‘modern day presidential’, but he’s not a ‘traditional presidential’ president,” says Rick Dunham, co-director of the Global Business Journalism program at Tsinghua University, adding that a lot of US foreign policy will be more transactional because of the president’s personality style.

The president likes to cut deals, and if somebody hits him, he’ll hit back ten times as hard. So regarding the DPRK, there will be either a historic deal or US “hitting back with ten times a weapon as Kim Jong-un is shipping up into the sky”, notes Mr. Dunham.

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