Social Media

Donald Trump as active on Twitter as ever, undermining 'restraint' pledge

U.S. President Donald Trump
Andrew Harrer | Bloomberg | Getty Images

So much for that "very restrained" idea.

Barely a week after having pledged to restrain himself on social media after his stunning White House win, President-elect Donald Trump has leapt back into the Internet fray with gusto, tweeting at the crack of dawn at a few familiar targets in a way that undermined his efforts to behave more presidential.

In just the last 24 hours alone, the newly-elected leader of the free world has used Twitter to blast the castmembers of the hit Broadway play "Hamilton" and NBC's "Saturday Night Live" (NBC is owned by Comcast, the parent company of CNBC). On Saturday night's episode, the show lampooned Trump's meeting with former GOP nominee Mitt Romney, who is rumored to be in the running for a cabinet position.

After Vice President-elect Mike Pence was both hectored and lectured at a Friday night showing of "Hamilton"—unleashing a firestorm on the news cycle that has yet to abate—Trump demanded that the troupe apologize to Pence in a series of tweets.

That post came virtually after 6am Eastern, and came after he deleted a tweet that accused a "Hamilton" actor of being unable to "memorize lines." Meanwhile, Pence told Fox News that he enjoyed the play, and was not offended by the curtain call speech that singled him out, the network reported.

On Sunday, the president-elect doubled down on his criticism of the show, took aim at SNL and boasted that he would have prevailed had a civil suit against Trump University gone to court. Trump settled the case for $25 million in a deal announced on Friday.

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His broadsides against 'Hamilton' and SNL capped a week in which he also blasted the New York Times for its reporting of his transition team. It suggested Trump will have a difficult time keeping his word to be more circumspect about his social media postings. In an interview with CBS's "60 Minutes" last week, Trump vowed to be more restrained on Twitter.

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Trump also complimented Democratic Senator Chuck Schumer, who is poised to become Senate minority leader. The president-elect referred to the New York Democrat as "far smarter" than his predecessor Harry Reid.