Alfonse D'Amato

Keep calling ’em how you see ’em, Mr. President-elect

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It’s amazing what President-elect Donald Trump can accomplish with just 140 characters. His use of Twitter has drawn criticism from the mainstream media as well as Democrats on Capitol Hill. But that hasn’t slowed him from continuing to weigh in on current events or explaining his platform to the public via the social media service.

Twitter has been an effective tool for Trump thus far. He has been able to rattle his adversaries. According to recently published commentaries, Chinese officials stated, “The obsession with ‘Twitter diplomacy’ is undesirable.”

This came after Trump sent out a tweet that suggested that China wasn’t doing enough to rein in North Korea. The tweet read, “China has been taking out massive amounts of money & wealth from the U.S. in totally one-sided trade, but won’t help with North Korea. Nice!” I believe the president-elect is absolutely right.

China has done little to nothing to keep North Korea from achieving nuclear capability. North Korea is working on developing a nuclear intercontinental ballistic missile system, which would be a direct threat to the U.S. Trump’s complaints about one-sided trade with China certainly have merit.

While the media claims that he uses social media to continue petty feuds, let’s look at the record. One day after Trump criticized General Motors on Twitter for manufacturing cars in Mexico, he was singing the praises of its chief competitor, Ford, for abandoning plans to build a new plant in Mexico instead of Michigan.

On Jan. 2, Trump issued a threatening tweet to General Motors: “GM is sending Mexican made model of Chevy Cruze to U.S. car dealers tax free across border. Make in U.S.A. or pay big border tax …” The next day, Ford announced that it would invest $700 million in a plant in Michigan and had eliminated plans to build a manufacturing plant in Mexico.

Don’t just take my word for Trump’s tweets causing an impact — look at what Ford CEO Mark Fields said. At a recent press conference, he stated, “The president-elect’s promises to make America more business-friendly had played a role. This is a vote of confidence for Trump and some of the policies he may be pursuing.”

Ford was set to invest $1.6 billion in the plant in Mexico. Now the company will be adding 700 jobs in Flat Rock, Mich. That means that members of 700 families will have good-paying jobs here in the U.S. Ford also did not take one penny of subsidies, unlike GM. I applaud the company for investing in the U.S. and keeping jobs here.

Trump had every right to criticize GM. The company has invested billions of dollars in Mexico, so I salute him for saying that it will face a heavy border tax.

I am also certain that his tweets in opposition to eliminating the Office of Congressional Ethics helped persuade Republicans not to go forward. It was a bad idea put forth by House Republicans, and Trump wasn’t afraid to let the them know it.

Take a look at what he tweeted: “With all that Congress has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it … may be, their number one act and priority. Focus on tax reform, healthcare and so many other things of far greater importance.” Congratulations, Mr. President-elect. This proposal was ill-timed, ill-conceived and done under the cover of night, behind closed doors.

If President Obama had sent out this tweet and gotten Republicans to drop the proposal, the media would be praising him. That’s what the media should be doing now: congratulating Trump instead of criticizing his use of Twitter. The ultra-liberal media doesn’t give him credit because he’s going around them, and I hope he continues to do so.

The media have already shown a strong bias against Trump, and continue to twist his words and actions to fit their agenda. So why should he trust them? Twitter allows him to have a direct outlet to the American people, and maybe they appreciate hearing opinions and reasons for action straight from him.

One thing’s for sure — denizens of Capitol Hill and the international community are aware that not only Trump’s 18.5 million Twitter followers are watching every tweet. So is the rest of the world. Keep calling ’em how you see ’em, sir.

Al D’Amato, a former U.S. senator from New York, is the founder of Park Strategies LLC, a public policy and business development firm. Comments about this column? ADAmato@liherald.com.