Donald Trump is the first president whose years’ worth of idle thoughts are readily available to anyone with access to Twitter. This is in part a function of his coming from outside the political sphere, where people are generally discouraged from publicly sharing random opinions on things. It is also in part because Trump embraced Twitter more eagerly than many other Americans, politicians or not.
The result is a phenomenon that’s come to be known as “there’s always a tweet.” Since much of Trump’s tweeting was aggrieved political muttering targeting Barack Obama, there have been countless examples of old Trump tweets that stand in stark contrast to the decisions and events of his presidency — or seem to have predicted them.
So, we looked at the year through that lens: when there was a tweet.
January
Trump visits the CIA. After bashing leaks from American intelligence agencies and the agencies themselves during the transition, one of Trump’s first stops as president was at the CIA headquarters. There, he lamented coverage of the crowds at his inauguration the day before.
Trump signs executive orders. Once inaugurated, Trump moved quickly to enact changes through the use of executive orders.
February
The White House denies colluding with Russia. Trump’s team denies allegations that the Trump campaign had worked with Russians to affect the outcome of the 2016 election.
Trump plays golf in Florida. Trump plays the first of 70-plus rounds in his first year in office while in Florida for the weekend.
North Korea tests a medium-range ballistic missile. The test is the first of this type of missile.
Trump holds a campaign event in Florida. The president’s reelection effort gets underway early in his presidency.
March
The country adds 235,000 jobs in Trump’s first full month as president. The unemployment rate is at 4.7 percent.
April
Trump authorizes an airstrike on Syria. After new reports of a chemical weapons attack by Syria against rebels in the country, Trump unilaterally orders an airstrike on the country. Before the strike, the administration gives Russia a heads up despite their alliance with the Syrian government.
I've been skeptical of the claim that there's always a tweet from Trump's past that contradicts what he's doing as POTUS, but man is it hard https://t.co/dcVCziIRDA
— Alex Kendrick (@AJ_Kendrick) April 8, 2017
The Senate approves Neil M. Gorsuch’s appointment to the Supreme Court. Republicans change filibuster rules to allow Gorsuch to pass with a majority vote.
The White House announces it won’t release visitors logs. Under Barack Obama, the White House released regular updates on who was visiting the White House complex.
Fox News fires Bill O’Reilly. The firing followed news reports that O’Reilly had settled various claims of sexual harassment against the commentator.
Trump declines to release his tax returns. His team again points to audits as an excuse for not releasing financial records.
Trump laments how difficult the job is. “I love my previous life. I had so many things going. This is more work than in my previous life,” Trump says of the presidency. “I thought it would be easier.”
May
Trump releases classified information to the Russians. In a meeting in the Oval Office, Trump reveals details about the fight against the Islamic State obtained from allies in Israel.
A special counsel is named. Robert S. Mueller III is appointed to investigate Russian meddling in the 2016 election and any connection to Trump’s campaign.
Trump was talking about Hillary Clinton in this tweet.
Trump takes his first overseas trip. It starts in Saudi Arabia, where Melania Trump declines to wear a headscarf.
In a speech in the country, he shies away from using the phrase “radical Islamic terrorism.”
Republicans propose cuts to Medicaid. Trump’s budget proposes cutting $627 billion from Medicaid; Republicans in Congress propose health-care legislation that would also slash planned Medicaid spending.
As a result to changes in health-care policy, millions are projected to lose their coverage.
The Republican health-care bill passes the House on Thursday, May 5.
Comedian Kathy Griffin is photographed holding Trump’s head. There’s a swift reaction criticizing her for the implication of violence against the president. Others note that conservative Ted Nugent had used violent language about Obama.
Trump tweets about “covfefe.” The obvious typo is defended by then-press secretary Sean Spicer: “The president and a small group of people know exactly what he meant.”
June
Trump criticizes the House health-care bill as “mean.” As the Senate considers its path forward, Trump disparages the House measure that passed the month before.
July
Details of a June 2016 meeting between a Russian lawyer and Trump staffers are revealed. Trump defends the meeting as being standard political effort to get dirt on an opponent.
The Senate health-care reform effort fails. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) dooms the bill by voting no, denying the bill a majority despite Republicans controlling the House, Senate and White House.
John F. Kelly replaces Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff. Kelly becomes Trump’s second chief of staff in about six months.
Scaramucci is fired. After a tumultuous 11 days, communications director Anthony Scaramucci is sacked by Kelly.
Trump announces on Twitter that he will ban transgender troops from the military. The effort is eventually stymied by the courts.
August
A revamped plan for fighting in Afghanistan is announced. Trump gives a speech outlining his new approach to the conflict. It does not include a timetable for full withdrawal.
A woman is killed during a violent protest in Virginia. Trump’s response is criticized for equating the views of racists and Nazi sympathizers with those protesting those views.
Trump heads to his property in New Jersey for two weeks. He’d already made nine visits to his clubs in Florida and New Jersey by that point.
Floyd Mayweather beats Conor McGregor in the 10th round. Some question halting the fight at the point.
Trump responds to two major hurricanes hitting the Gulf Coast. The president encourages those told to evacuate to do so.
After days of warnings, Tampa luckily escapes the worst of Hurricane Irma.
September
Trump announces a plan to end an immigration protection created under Obama. On the first Friday of September, Trump announces that he’s giving Congress six months to figure out how to deal with the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program.
Cleanup begins. Trump’s efforts after the storms land include visits to Texas and Louisiana where he visits areas damaged by the storm.
Puerto Rico, though, is not as lucky. Trump is criticized for his slow reaction to the storm that left much of the island without power, water or gasoline. During a visit to the island, he declares that it was less of a disaster than Hurricane Katrina, given the low death toll.
Congress raises the debt limit. The move ensures that the government can continue to pay its bills.
Trump gives a speech at the United Nations. He has strong words for North Korea.
Trump begins criticizing protests by NFL players. The president repeatedly criticizes players who kneel during the national anthem before National Football League games to draw attention to police brutality and other injustices.
Trump rejects the Golden State Warriors. After drawing attention to the protests, Trump declares that the National Basketball Association-championship-winning Warriors are not welcome at the White House. On Twitter, LeBron James responds, calling Trump a “bum.”
The editor of Vanity Fair steps down. Graydon Carter served for 25 years.
October
A mass shooting in Las Vegas kills 59 people. Trump suggests that it’s not appropriate to discuss gun control immediately after the shooting.
Trump scrambles to express condolences to Gold Star families. After a feud with the wife of a soldier killed in Niger, Trump hastens to reach out to other families of people killed in action, including rush-shipping letters to some.
After chief of staff — and former general — John F. Kelly criticizes a member of Congress involved in the feud, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders suggests that it’s inappropriate to criticize a general.
Jimmy Carter defends Trump against media criticism. Trump publicly thanks the former president on Twitter.
An indictment against former Trump adviser George Papadopoulos is revealed. Trump dismisses Papadopoulos as a minor player in the campaign — despite his attending a national security meeting at Trump Tower.
Papadopoulos is third from left.
NBC reports that Secretary of State Rex Tillerson called Trump a “moron” after a tense meeting. Tillerson doesn’t deny the report.
Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.) warns about Trump’s behavior. One of the leading Republicans on foreign policy warns that Trump’s threats could put the United States “on the path to World War III.”
The Astros defeat the Yankees in the baseball playoffs. Astros ace Justin Verlander helped propel the team to the World Series with two of the team’s four wins.
November
North Korea tests a missile capable of hitting the United States. It’s the first test demonstrating that most of the country was in range of a North Korean strike.
The president claims not to watch much television as president. This is clearly untrue, given how often he tweets about watching Fox News.
Republican Senate candidate Roy Moore is revealed to have sought sexual relationships with girls as young as 14 in the 1970s. The allegations, first reported by The Washington Post, eventually expand to include two notes written by Moore to girls he wanted to date. The validity of the handwriting on the notes is questioned by Trump supporters.
The Keystone pipeline springs a leak. More than 200,000 gallons of oil spill in South Dakota.
Trump interrupts a speech for a sip of water. The water bottle he drinks from is not Trump Ice.
America celebrates Thanksgiving.
December
Russia is banned from the 2018 Winter Olympics. The move follows the discovery of rampant cheating by Russian athletes during the 2014 games held in the Russian city of Sochi.
A report claims that Trump watches television constantly and drinks a dozen Diet Cokes a day. Trump denies the report in the New York Times, including that he watches Don Lemon on CNN. Trump tweets that he once called Lemon the “dumbest man on television.”
The administration decides against prosecuting wind farm operators who accidentally kill birds. This is a shift from Obama policy.
House Speaker Paul D. Ryan’s (R-Wis.) former opponent Paul Nehlen is criticized for a string of anti-Semitic and pro-white tweets. Even Breitbart, which had championed Nehlen’s candidacy, backs away from him.
A Vanity Fair video kicks up a small storm. Trump uses a video from the site as an excuse to slam the publication and, for some reason, Vogue’s Anna Wintour.
Trump heads to Mar-a-Lago for much of the month. For first a weekend and then more than a week around Christmas, Trump retires to his club in Palm Beach. Before leaving in early December, he hosts an early Hanukkah celebration.
At Mar-a-Lago, the president closes out the year with several straight days of golf. Over the course of the year, he plays with politicians on several occasions but apparently never with Democrats.
Trump insists on wishing Americans a “merry Christmas.” The “war on Christmas,” he declares, is over.
Honorable mentions. There were also several tweets which were offered repeatedly over the course of the year by people on Twitter as examples of Trump apparently having predicted or contradicted his presidency. These two, in particular, were popular.