Trump, the poet? At the RNC, you can get hats, shirts, and even poetry inspired by Trump
If there’s one thing Donald Trump’s supporters and critics can agree on, it might be this: the former president is masterful at tweeting. One fan believes Trump’s musing on X, formerly Twitter, is worthy of a poetry collection.
Among the Trump memorabilia for sale at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, one item stands out: a first-edition book titled “Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump.”
Gregory Woodman of Portland, Oregon, showed off the book – a hardcover with gold lettering etched on the cover – to prospective customers at the RNC.
“He’s an amazing poet,” Woodman said. He spent months combing through an online archive of every tweet that Trump ever penned to create the collection.
A book of “Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump.” Vendor tells me it’s $45 in honor of the 45th president (and a second volume being published soon is $47.) pic.twitter.com/9tCDSBs7M5
— Judy Kurtz (@JudyKurtz) July 16, 2024
Trump, the poet?
The 373-page book draws from Trump’s tweets from 2009 to 2019, Woodman said in an interview with The Columbian after the book launched in 2020. On the page, Trump’s tweets are designed to mimic the abstract style of poets like e.e. cummings.
When asked whether Trump’s tweets should be considered poetry, he explained: “It’s up for interpretation by anyone. It’s a case study of what it means to be human… It’s a test of what your emotional, guttural reactions are.”
Some samples include: “Entrepreneurs:/It’s often/To your advantage/to be underestimated.”
Another reads, “I hate USA Today’s redesign/--the logo is terrible.”
Anyone looking for more recent tweets by the former president is in luck. “We have a Volume II coming out,” Woodman informed a prospective buyer at the RNC.
Trump’s tweets inspire a new kind of presidential library
This isn’t the first time that Trump’s tweets have been turned into some form of art. In 2019, The Daily Show created the Donald J. Trump Presidential Twitter Library.
Similar to the official presidential libraries of his predecessors, the traveling exhibit featured moments of Trump’s time in office: framed copies of scathing tweets, medals for his greatest Twitter battles, and a replica of Trump holding a phone aloft, mid-tweet.
A banner above the exhibit featured a tweet from Trump dated July 21, 2014: “Many people have said I’m the world’s greatest writer of 140 character sentences.”
Perhaps that one will be in Volume II of Woodman’s “Collected Poems of Donald J. Trump.”
Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at mcruz@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Donald Trump, the poet? Trump poetry collection is for sale at RNC
