--- title: Easy D, French Musician, Speaks About Donald Trump's Tweet description: When President Donald Trump referred to 'Easy D' in a tweet Wednesday, Easy D, a French musician based in London, had a bit of a surprise. canonical: https://time.com/4666798/easy-d-donald-trump-tweet/ author: Kate Samuelson article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-02-10T12:30:23.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:40:59.538Z og:title: We Spoke to Easy D, a French Musician, About Trump's Tweet og:description: "I felt like I was in the middle of something, but I didn't gain many followers" og:url: https://time.com/4666798/easy-d-donald-trump-tweet/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf79df7067878a311/6988b9a4fb4eac3f58890b7b/gettyimages-632862994.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Via Twitter, Trump Threatens To Cancel Mexico Visit To White House Over Wall og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: We Spoke to Easy D, a French Musician, About Trump's Tweet twitter:description: "I felt like I was in the middle of something, but I didn't gain many followers" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltf79df7067878a311/6988b9a4fb4eac3f58890b7b/gettyimages-632862994.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # We Spoke to Easy D, a French Musician Who's as Confused by Trump's Tweet as You Are > Sponsored content. 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Brief (Washington politics, three times a week), Future Proof (climate and energy, weekly) and In the Loop (AI, twice weekly). All are free at time.com/newsletters and together reach more than 1.1 million engaged readers. #### Which TIME newsletter should I subscribe to? It depends on what you follow. For a daily briefing, The Brief. For health, Health Matters. For Washington politics, D.C. Brief. For AI and technology, In the Loop. For climate and energy as a business story, Future Proof. For culture recommendations, Worth Your Time. For how TIME's journalism gets made, Inside TIME. Readers can select any combination at time.com/newsletters. #### Are TIME's newsletters free? Yes. All seven TIME newsletters are free to join at time.com/newsletters. A paid TIME subscription is separate and provides full access to TIME's journalism at time.com/subscribe-agent. #### Who writes TIME's newsletters? TIME journalists write them. Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Feb 10, 2017 12:30 PM UTC  The Twitter Inc. accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @POTUS and @realDoanldTrump, are seen on an Apple Inc. iPhone arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Jan. 27, 2017. The Twitter Inc. accounts of U.S. President Donald Trump, @POTUS and @realDoanldTrump, are seen on an Apple Inc. iPhone arranged for a photograph in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Jan. 27, 2017. Andrew Harrer/Bloomberg via Getty Images by [Kate Samuelson](https://time.com/author/kate-samuelson/) ## Kate Samuelson Feb 10, 2017 12:30 PM UTC It’s not unusual for [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4664998/chuck-schumer-president-donald-trump/)‘s social media presence to spark outrage and confusion – but a recent tweet of his left even more of his 24.4 million followers scratching their heads than usual. “Big increase in traffic into our country from certain areas, while our people are far more vulnerable, as we wait for what should be EASY D!” [he wrote](https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/829384587482656768), at 12.41am Washington time Wednesday. The content of the President’s tweet is pretty straightforward; he was [defending his executive order](http://time.com/4666465/appeals-court-president-trump-travel-ban/) which banned entry to the U.S. from citizens from seven countries. However, the use of the phrase ‘Easy D’ – a non-colloquial term – was far less clear. There were [many speculations](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2017/feb/08/easy-d-trump-twitter) over the meaning of the ‘D’, which likely stood for ‘decision.’ But likely no one was more confused than [Easy D](https://www.facebook.com/easyddee/), a 36-year-old French musician based in east London, who was baffled when his social media mentions blew up Wednesday. “I felt like I was in the middle of something,” Easy D – whose real name is Idriss Belatreche – told TIME in a telephone interview. “Although I didn’t gain as many extra followers as I’d have liked!”. The meaning of his own Easy D is easy to explain. “My friends call me Driss, short for Idriss” he explained. “And the ‘Easy’ bit was introduced because of my love of hip hop and West Coast rappers like G-Eazy. It’s a bit of a cheesy name.” As a Muslim with Algerian roots, Belatreche is less than thrilled to be associated with Trump. “He needs to try to understand that real Muslims don’t do terrorism,” he said. “To me, Islam is not that at all – these terrorists are just acting on politics but pretending it’s religion. By having these policies against Muslims, Trump is making things worse and increasing the anger between communities. He is acting like a Texas man pulling out guns when something goes wrong instead of thinking and seeing things from another point of view.” Belatreche, who also works as a caterer, [describes his music](https://soundcloud.com/easy-d-1) as funky, groovy and electronic, in a French touch style. 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