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The 14 Trump Tweets That Defined his High-Stakes Week

In one week, Donald Trump will place his hand on a Bible and take the oath to become president of the United States.

The stakes are higher than ever in the days leading up to the businessman becoming leader of the free world. What he’ll be able to accomplish during his first months in office and who he’ll have by his side as he does it could well be determined in the fallout from one of the most pivotal weeks of the Trump political era.

This is what happened, as told by the President-elect’s own tweets.

Monday: War with an Oscar winner

Meryl Streep, one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood, doesn’t know me but attacked last night at the Golden Globes. She is a…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017

Hillary flunky who lost big. For the 100th time, I never “mocked” a disabled reporter (would never do that) but simply showed him……. — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017

“groveling” when he totally changed a 16 year old story that he had written in order to make me look bad. Just more very dishonest media!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 9 January 2017

Eleven days from the White House. Trump began the week by ripping Meryl Streep, who used her Golden Globes speech the night before to skewer his campaign rhetoric and criticize him for mocking a disabled reporter.

In three tweets over 16 minutes, beginning at 6:27 a.m. ET, Trump called Streep “overrated” and a “Hillary flunky.” She joins the cast of “Hamilton” and “Saturday Night Live” on a growing list of critical entertainers to be the target of a Trump Twitter tantrum.

Tuesday: The report that overshadowed everything

FAKE NEWS – A TOTAL POLITICAL WITCH HUNT! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 11 January 2017

On Tuesday afternoon, CNN broke the news that intelligence chiefs presented Trump with a two-page summary of an unverified report compiled by a former British intelligence official whose Russian sources claimed to have compromising personal and financial information about the incoming president.

CNN didn’t report on details of those memos, as it has not independently corroborated the specific unverified allegations. Shortly after CNN’s report, Buzzfeed released the unsubstantiated memos.

Once that happened, it didn’t take long for Trump to respond on Twitter, accusing news outlets of spreading “fake news” about him.

He also retweeted a photo from his lawyer, Michael Cohen, of a (closed) passport and a caption denying a portion of the memos alleging that Trump’s lawyer had secretly met with Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016.

I have never been to Prague in my life. #fakenews pic.twitter.com/CMil9Rha3D

— Michael Cohen (@MichaelCohen212) 11 January 2017

Wednesday: The news conference

Trump wasn’t done with this story when the sun rose over the East Coast on Wednesday. Shortly after 7 a.m., he sent tweets rejecting the report. His source: Russia.

Russia just said the unverified report paid for by political opponents is “A COMPLETE AND TOTAL FABRICATION, UTTER NONSENSE.” Very unfair! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 11 January 2017

Russia has never tried to use leverage over me. I HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH RUSSIA – NO DEALS, NO LOANS, NO NOTHING!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 11 January 2017

These tweets came after the Kremlin denied it has compromising information about Trump, describing the allegations as “pulp fiction.” Dmitry Peskov, spokesman for Russian President Vladimir Putin, said reports that Trump was the subject of “Kompromat” — a Russian term for compromising information intended to be used against someone — were an “attempt to harm our bilateral relationship.”

But Trump’s complaints continued apace. At 7:48 a.m., in following with Godwin’s Law, he pivoted his focus to the intelligence agencies he accused of doing him dirty, and asked, “Are we living in Nazi Germany?” When pressed about that comparison later in the day, Trump said recent leaks were like something Hitler’s Germany “would have done and did do.”

Intelligence agencies should never have allowed this fake news to “leak” into the public. One last shot at me.Are we living in Nazi Germany? — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 11 January 2017

But media outlets had been waiting for this day for a different reason: Trump was giving his first news conference in nearly six months. But it felt more like a rally at times since Trump staffers, his family and top aides applauded several times throughout the conference.

Incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer opened the news conference by slamming the reports on Russia, which he called a “political witch hunt.”

Later in the news conference, Trump attacked CNN for its reporting on this story. He then refused to call on CNN correspondent Jim Acosta, who was trying to ask a question, calling him “fake news.”

Trump-presser-Reuters

Shortly after he walked off stage, Trump fired off a tweet, again reiterating his “fake news” claim.

We had a great News Conference at Trump Tower today. A couple of FAKE NEWS organizations were there but the people truly get what’s going on

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 12 January 2017

CNN stands by its reporting. Here’s what we have to say about Trump’s “fake news” accusations.

Thursday: Stumping for LL Bean

Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 12 January 2017

Linda Bean is the granddaughter of LL Bean’s founder. She is also a Trump supporter and gave $60,000 to the Making America Great PAC last year. Her political leanings have prompted an anti-Trump group to call for a boycott of LL Bean.

Bean told “Fox & Friends” that she had been notified of a slight uptick in sales this week, despite the boycott call. After her appearance, Trump told his 19.7 million followers to shop at LL Bean.

But just because he’s watching Fox News doesn’t mean Trump isn’t taking time for shots against CNN.

.@CNN is in a total meltdown with their FAKE NEWS because their ratings are tanking since election and their credibility will soon be gone!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 12 January 2017

About that? Again, we’re standing strong.

Friday: Throwback to his greatest hits

At 5:49 a.m., Trump was awake — and on a tweetstorm.

First: His Cabinet

All of my Cabinet nominee are looking good and doing a great job. I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 January 2017

Trump’s Cabinet picks to run the State Department, Department of Homeland Security and Justice Department faced their Senate hearings this week. But they didn’t fall in line with the President-elect. Under the scrutiny of the Senate, they dropped some of his signature policy positions.

Rex Tillerson broke with Trump on trade. Retired Gen. John Kelly split on waterboarding. Sen. Jeff Sessions rejected the Muslim ban that the President-elect touted throughout his campaign. And James Mattis said he might stick by the Iran nuclear deal, named Russia as the source of “grave concerns” and offered a robust endorsement of NATO.

Next up: Hillary Clinton

What are Hillary Clinton’s people complaining about with respect to the F.B.I. Based on the information they had she should never…..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 January 2017

have been allowed to run – guilty as hell. They were VERY nice to her. She lost because she campaigned in the wrong states – no enthusiasm! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 January 2017

Trump had clearly heard some of the complaints from Democrats about the FBI’s behavior, so he took aim again at his old foe. He even channeled his old stump lines, calling her “guilty as hell” — presumably of something to do with her private email server — and saying she “should never have been allowed to run.”

The he swerved in some post-campaign analysis. He added that Clinton spent time in the “wrong states” — a nod to her no-show in Wisconsin, which he won.

Then: Obamacare

The “Unaffordable” Care Act will soon be history!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) 13 January 2017

Friday also marks a big day for another campaign promise Trump made: to repeal Obamacare. He sent this tweet ahead of the House vote on a resolution that will kickstart the process of repealing the Affordable Care Act.

But there’s still disagreement within the Republican Party on how best to proceed.

Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States in one week.

Source: News18