--- title: Donald Trump, Russia, and How Twitter Always Reacts description: The Trump Administration follows a remarkably consistent pattern when it comes to whatever the brouhaha of the day may be. canonical: https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2017-05-16T16:49:38.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T04:56:55.249Z article:section: Politics og:title: A Play-by-Play of How Twitter Will React to the Next Trump Controversy og:description: Brought to you in Trump's favorite medium: Twitter og:url: https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta69b150d8ba37afd/6988cd5eab6d77a45e6ae1d3/trump-lavrov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: United States Russia og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Play-by-Play of How Twitter Will React to the Next Trump Controversy twitter:description: Brought to you in Trump's favorite medium: Twitter twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta69b150d8ba37afd/6988cd5eab6d77a45e6ae1d3/trump-lavrov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Here's a Play-by-Play of How Twitter Will React to the Next Trump Controversy > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times 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. by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith May 16, 2017 4:49 PM UTC  Suffice it to say that a photo of President Donald Trump and Russia's foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S. hit wires at an odd time. Less than a day after Trump fired FBI director James B. Comey Trump's campaign's ties to Russian officials. American journalists were barred from attending, but one photographer from TASS a Russian owned news agency got the photo of a lifetime. Social media users did not hold back on the quips about the weirdly timed encounter. Suffice it to say that a photo of President Donald Trump and Russia's foreign minister and ambassador to the U.S. hit wires at an odd time. Less than a day after Trump fired FBI director James B. Comey Trump's campaign's ties to Russian officials. American journalists were barred from attending, but one photographer from TASS a Russian owned news agency got the photo of a lifetime. Social media users did not hold back on the quips about the weirdly timed encounter. Russian Foreign Ministry/AP by [Ryan Teague Beckwith](https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/) ## Ryan Teague Beckwith May 16, 2017 4:49 PM UTC The Trump Administration follows a [remarkably consistent pattern](https://twitter.com/i/moments/864495493740679168) when it comes to whatever the brouhaha of the day may be. Whether it’s a claim of [wiretapping at Trump Tower](http://time.com/4705124/donald-trump-wiretapping-republicans/), the [firing of FBI Director James Comey](http://time.com/4776388/james-comey-fired-trump-interview/) or the [reported revealing of classified information](http://time.com/4779986/donald-trump-russia-classified-information-isis/) in an Oval Office meeting with the Russians, the actions and reactions are fairly predictable. In that light, here’s a ready-made guide to the next Trump brouhaha, in [President Trump](http://time.com/donald-trump-after-hours)‘s favorite medium: Twitter. > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488063745101824) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488155717808128) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488303084654592) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488567950782464) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488745776623620) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864488974181597184) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489164066172928) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489347332046849) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489481575038976) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489618531635201) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489724739715072) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864489851869159424) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864490000968294400) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864490124826071040) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864490268065538054) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864490355290460160) > [](https://twitter.com/ryanbeckwith/status/864490542201221120) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/"},"headline":"Here's a Play-by-Play of How Twitter Will React to the Next Trump Controversy","datePublished":"2017-05-16T16:49:38.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T04:56:55.249Z","description":"Brought to you in Trump's favorite medium: Twitter","url":"https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/","keywords":["Donald Trump","White House","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta69b150d8ba37afd/6988cd5eab6d77a45e6ae1d3/trump-lavrov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Ryan Teague Beckwith","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/ryan-teague-beckwith/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blta69b150d8ba37afd/6988cd5eab6d77a45e6ae1d3/trump-lavrov.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"United States Russia","caption":"United States Russia","creditText":"Russian Foreign Ministry/AP","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/donald-trump/","name":"Donald Trump"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4780624/donald-trump-russia-twitter-controversy/","name":"Here's a Play-by-Play of How Twitter Will React to the Next Trump Controversy"}}]}] ```