As the world waits to discover whether the U.S. will pull out of the Paris climate deal, how the president's son-in-law is dealing with pressure as his alleged contact with the Kremlin is probed, and for news of a rumored White House staff shake-up, U.S. President Donald Trump has once again turned to Twitter to offer an answer -- of sorts.
"Despite the constant negative press covfefe," President Trump tweeted at midnight on Wednesday morning, leaving the public baffled. What exactly is the definition of the non-existent word "covfefe?"
This tweet stayed online for some six hours before it was deleted, spawning jokes and confusion across the Internet, but also highlighting the messaging difficulties the White House communications team faces.
Explanations ranged from the assumption that Trump had fallen asleep mid-tweet, to mock interpretations suggesting "covfefe" is Russian for "I resign."
Hillary Clinton, who lost the 2016 U.S. presidential election to Trump, turned "covfefe" back on the White House incumbent, after the president tweeted "Crooked Hillary Clinton now blames everybody but herself, refuses to say she was a terrible candidate. Hit Facebook & even Dems & DNC."
Right after the tweet was deleted, Trump posted again at 6:09 a.m. ET, "Who can figure out the true meaning of "covfefe" ??? Enjoy!"
Although the word was considered most likely a misspelling of the word "coverage," White House press secretary Sean Spicer insisted that it was no mistake, and the American people should not be concerned by the incoherence of Trump's tweet.
"The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant," said Spicer.
However for reporters as well as observers, the "covfefe" phenomenon, media reports about Trump handing out his personal cellphone number to foreign leaders, as well as other not-so-sporadic errors in Trump's tweets, suggests that the U.S. president's unfiltered use of the medium remains unchecked, four months into his administration.
Since his inauguration, Trump has expressed how "honered" (honored) he is to serve as president of the United States, refered to China's maneuvers in the South China Sea as "unpresidented " (unprecedented), and noted terror attacks including those in "Denmakr" (Denmark) and "San Bernadino" (San Bernardino).
When British Prime Minister Theresa May visited Washington, the presidential and vice-presidential agenda both welcomed "Teresa," and Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull was referred to as the president of his country.
These mistakes are all cited as evidence proving a lack of experience and discipline in the White House.
Typically the errors are corrected within minutes, the offending tweet deleted and replaced with an identical message with better spelling. Yet that "covfefe" remained online through the night has sparked concerns that the White House communications team "appears to have given up," according to AFP.
In early May, Spicer, whose job involves spinning Trump's sometimes contradictory views, even responded to questions by saying: "The tweet speaks for itself. I'm moving on."
