Donald Trump dictated his tweets and insisted on capitalising certain words and using exclamation points, a former aide testified at his trial. Madeleine Westerhout, who served as a White House aide, said the former president preferred to have her take notes rather than write his posts himself.
Westerhout told the court that Trump would edit drafts on paper and send them back for final posting. 'There are certain words he liked to capitalise... like 'country',' she said. 'He liked exclamation points.' She also noted his fondness for the Oxford comma.
Trump is accused of falsifying business records to conceal a payment to adult film star Stormy Daniels. He has pleaded not guilty. Westerhout, who was fired in 2019 for leaking private family information, gave evidence for the prosecution.
She described how Trump, an avid Twitter user, would summon her to dictate posts. She would type up the draft, print it, and he would make handwritten edits. Occasionally, she would help craft tweets when top aide Dan Scavino was unavailable. Trump did not use a computer or have an email address, she said.
Westerhout also revealed that Trump preferred to work in a dining room rather than the Oval Office to keep the Resolute Desk 'pristine'. Trump was banned from Twitter after the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and later launched his own platform, Truth Social. His Twitter account was reinstated by Elon Musk in 2022.
