Post from X (Twitter)

Psychological Analysis: Border Wall Cost Tweet (Feb 11, 2017)

This is part one of a two-part tweet (ends with "the.....") about border wall costs. Trump was approximately three weeks into his presidency.

Authorship & Timing

Posted at 13:18 UTC on a Saturday. Trump was likely at Mar-a-Lago (Palm Beach) for the weekend (he had traveled there with PM Abe). Local time: ~8:18 AM EST — a typical early morning Trump tweeting window. The incomplete sentence ending in "...." the casual "I am reading that" opener, and the mid-thought cutoff are strongly characteristic of authentic Trump multi-part tweeting.

Psychological Analysis

The post reveals a characteristic pattern: preemptive framing before bad news lands. By acknowledging the wall will cost more than expected while immediately noting "I have not gotten involved," Trump distances himself from the cost overrun before it can be attributed to him. This is classic externalization — the high cost is the government's problem, not his.

The phrase "great border WALL" with selective capitalization of WALL maintains grandiose framing even while conceding a negative. The word "great" functions as an anchor, ensuring the wall remains positively valenced regardless of cost concerns.

Context

This follows a week of significant narcissistic injury (Ninth Circuit ruling) and combative posts ("SEE YOU IN COURT"). The shift to the wall topic may represent displacement — redirecting from the legal defeat to a domain where he can assert competence (dealmaking, cost negotiation).

Rhetorical Notes

The "I have not gotten involved" setup clearly telegraphs a follow-up claiming he will bring costs down — a dealmaker narrative setup.

Fact Verification

Overall Veracity: 80%