--- title: Donald Trump: Merriam-Webster Responds to ‘Covfefe’ Tweet description: Merriam-Webster said it regretted entering the storm of confusion sparked by President Donald Trump's late-night "convfefe" tweet canonical: https://time.com/4799171/merriam-webster-donald-trump-covfefe/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-31T12:36:26.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-10-08T09:04:44.708Z article:section: Politics og:title: Merriam-Webster Couldn’t Even Deal With President Trump’s ‘Covfefe’ Tweet og:description: "Regrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed." og:url: https://time.com/4799171/merriam-webster-donald-trump-covfefe/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt581eb7b39dd17d57/6988cf80bc6cfcee6c3e198d/donald-trump7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Memorial Day Is Commemorated At Arlington National Cemetery og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Merriam-Webster Couldn’t Even Deal With President Trump’s ‘Covfefe’ Tweet twitter:description: "Regrets checking Twitter. Goes back to bed." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt581eb7b39dd17d57/6988cf80bc6cfcee6c3e198d/donald-trump7.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Merriam-Webster Couldn’t Even Deal With President Trump’s ‘Covfefe’ Tweet > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, twice a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3/newsletters?i=d226afc3-606a-45ed-a4ca-940ca3c09d56&cr=time-nl-dcbrief-2026q3-v1) ## Video: 'Covfefe' Conquers Twitter After Trump's Confounding Tweet [Watch (HLS stream): 'Covfefe' Conquers Twitter After Trump's Confounding Tweet](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/3MaQXUjE.m3u8) (1:23)  _Published 2017-05-31. President Trump mystified the world at precisely 12:06am Wednesday morning when he tweeted a new word._  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 31, 2017 12:36 PM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly May 31, 2017 12:36 PM UTC [Merriam-Webster](http://motto.time.com/4729330/merriam-webster-social-media-team-donald-trump/) on Wednesday regretted entering the storm of confusion sparked by [President Donald Trump](http://time.com/4799145/donald-trump-covfefe-meme/)‘s late-night “convfefe” tweet. The dictionary company, which has [developed a reputation](http://time.com/4774687/merriam-webster-dictionary-politics-donald-trump-hillary-clinton/) for political snark on social media, said it regretted checking Twitter and discovering what people were looking up in the dictionary after Trump’s apparent typo. “Despite the constant negative press covfefe,” Trump wrote in a tweet shortly after midnight on Wednesday, leaving the internet hanging. Hours later, he deleted the tweet and challenged his followers to [figure out its true meaning](http://time.com/4799145/donald-trump-covfefe-meme/?xid=homepage). “Who can figure out the true meaning of “covfefe” ??? Enjoy!” he wrote. But even Merriam-Webster might not be up to the task. > [](https://twitter.com/MerriamWebster/status/869782666572443648) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4799171/merriam-webster-donald-trump-covfefe/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4799171/merriam-webster-donald-trump-covfefe/"},"headline":"Merriam-Webster Couldn’t Even Deal With President Trump’s ‘Covfefe’ Tweet","datePublished":"2017-05-31T12:36:26.000Z","dateModified":"2026-10-08T09:04:44.708Z","description":"\"Regrets checking Twitter. 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