Tech CEOs on the West Coast are preparing to respond to early-morning tweets sent from the White House by readjusting their schedules to ensure someone is up at 3 a.m. local time to observe Donald Trump's Twitter activity.
The president-elect has developed a habit of tweeting before breakfast, often aiming his messages at corporate America. Here's what he had to say on Wednesday.
Thank you to Ford for scrapping a new plant in Mexico and creating 700 new jobs in the U.S. This is just the beginning - much more to follow
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 4, 2017
On Thursday, Trump validated tech leaders' concerns, as the president-elect took on Toyota in a tweet, criticizing the auto company for its plan to build a plant in Mexico.
Toyota Motor said will build a new plant in Baja, Mexico, to build Corolla cars for U.S. NO WAY! Build plant in U.S. or pay big border tax.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 5, 2017
The unremarkable tweet caused Toyota's shares to drop, ultimately closing the day down 0.6 percent at $120.44 on the New York Stock Exchange. Trump's behavior on social media has already worried diplomacy experts, who argue that off-the-cuff remarks at 3 a.m. are not a viable way to conduct U.S. diplomacy. But it is becoming more and more apparent that Trump's tweets have real economic implications.
China of all countries may be speaking for all Americans when it advised the president-elect the other day to lay off Twitter.
"The obsession with 'Twitter diplomacy' is undesirable," a headline recently read in China's official news agency Xinhua.
South Korea's government, meanwhile, has hired an officer to exclusively monitor Trump on Twitter.
So there's some job creation going on.
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