• by Philip Rosenstein , Staff Writer, January 26, 2017

President Donald Trump has changed the way American voters conceive of and interact with the White House. The starkest example is the continuous stream of tweets that still emanate from his pre-Presidential handle @realDonaldTrump.

Trump has ignored calls from China, the world’s second and rising superpower, to tame his Twitter activity. It went so far as to call out his obsession with the social media platform in an op-ed published in the country’s state-run news outlet.

Further, President Trump, apparently in response to Mexican President Peña Nieto’s TV address to the Mexican people last night, has taken Twiplomacy to the forefront of American diplomatic policy.

The relationship between the two heads of state is souring quickly. Peña Nieto today cancelled his trip to Washington, D.C., planned for next Tuesday, since Trump insists on building the wall and having Mexico pay for it.

In true Trump style, he responded to the threat, which has now come to fruition, on Twitter earlier today: 1/2 “The U.S. has a 60 billion dollar trade deficit with Mexico. It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers...” 2/2 “of jobs and companies lost. If Mexico is unwilling to pay for the badly needed wall, then it would be better to cancel the upcoming meeting.”

Trump’s desire for immediate gratification has one plus: We know what he is thinking and can follow along with his thought process.

While Americans may see this as a welcomed change from the secretive, elite status quo in Washington, there is a serious downside.  Trump’s unconstrained, often ill-informed thoughts could create a serious diplomatic crises -- Nieto’s cancelled trip is a case in point.

Diplomatic negotiations are often conducted in secret — precisely because public policy has real-life consequences for average Americans. Diplomats need to run through potentially unsuitable outcomes before arriving at a consensus. This type of respectful diplomatic relationship has most likely come to an abrupt end with Trump's election.

As Jason Kander, former Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate in Missouri, told Jake Tapper on CNN: “Every tweet, it’s not a tweet anymore -- it’s a policy statement of the United States of America.”

The U.S. is now in uncharted territory — and Americans have to brace themselves for the untethered and inexperienced Twitter President who has the power to ignite conflict with his thumbs.