Donald Trump issues first tweets as US president

President Donald Trump has taken over the @POTUS Twitter handle.

Trump has issued his first tweets as president.

Trump has issued his first tweets as president. Source: AP Photo/Andrew Harnik

In front of an audience of hundreds of thousands on the National Mall in Washington DC, and million on television across America and around the world, Donald Trump was inaugurated as president at noon on Friday.

Almost instantly, the White House website was taken over by the Trump team, refreshing to show the detail of the 45th president's plans for the country.

The official presidential Twitter handle was also taken over, with  cleared of all of President Obama's previous tweets, which now appear under the Twitter handle .
President Trump's first official tweet via the @POTUS account, with over 5 million followers, was a Facebook link to the president's inaugural address.

Through his , with 20 million followers, Mr Trump tweeted several select lines from his speech.
Twitter is expected to be an important and unconventional communication tool for the incoming president.

“Trump throughout the campaign and the transition has been able to use Twitter to devastating effect,” Dougal Robinson with Sydney’s US Studies Centre .

“He’s been able to upend the debate on any given issue or policy with a single tweet,” he said.

“We can expect more Twitter and fewer press conferences from Trump as president.”

President Obama's final tweet from the official handle, now moved to @POTUS44, was a message to his supporters.
President Obama’s original Twitter account, , has almost 81 million followers.

President Obama has said he will remain active in public life, and will remain in Washington D.C. while his daughter finishes school.

Share
Published 21 January 2017 7:37am
Updated 21 January 2017 2:06pm
By Ben Winsor


Share this with family and friends


Get SBS News daily and direct to your Inbox

Sign up now for the latest news from Australia and around the world direct to your inbox.

By subscribing, you agree to SBS’s terms of service and privacy policy including receiving email updates from SBS.

Download our apps
SBS News
SBS Audio
SBS On Demand

Listen to our podcasts
An overview of the day's top stories from SBS News
Interviews and feature reports from SBS News
Your daily ten minute finance and business news wrap with SBS Finance Editor Ricardo Gonçalves.
A daily five minute news wrap for English learners and people with disability
Get the latest with our News podcasts on your favourite podcast apps.

Watch on SBS
SBS World News

SBS World News

Take a global view with Australia's most comprehensive world news service
Watch the latest news videos from Australia and across the world