Donald Trump's tweets taken as 'official statements,' says Kremlin

Mr Trump's tweets are 'reported to Russian President Vladimir Putin along with other information about official statements by politicians'

US President Donald Trump chats with Russia's President Vladimir Putin in Danang, Vietnam on 11 November 2017. (MIKHAIL KLIMENTYEV/AFP/Getty Images)

The Kremlin has said that it considers every tweet by US President Donald Trump as an official statement.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said it was not his place to comment on Mr Trump's actions, but added: “in any case, everything which is published from his authorised Twitter account is perceived by Moscow as his official statement.

"Naturally, it is reported to [Russian President Vladimir] Putin along with other information about official statements by politicians," Mr Peskov said.

Mr Putin does not appear to have an official Twitter account himself.

Mr Trump's activity on Twitter has been the cause of several controversies since he entered office in January.

Just some of the highlights of his account include insulting Senators, saying the FBI is in “tatters,” referring to North Korean leader Ki Jong-un as “Rocket Man” and threatening to use military force, repeatedly referring to erstwhile opponent Hillary Clinton as “Crooked Hillary,” and hitting out at the “fake news” of CNN, the New York Times, Washington Post, and several other media outlets.

He also recently started a row with UK Prime Minister Theresa May when he retweeted three unverified but blatantly anti-Muslim videos posted by the ultra-nationalist group Britain First.

Questions arose if he would use the official Presidential account @POTUS, which his predecessor Barack Obama before changing to @POTUS44. He has continued to use his personal account @realdonaldtrump for the vast majority of his tweets and retweets.

The latter is also the account to which world leaders have commented upon when he has tweeted anything controversial.

In February, the National Archives advised the White House to retain records of all the President’s tweets.

Another point of contention was whether the President is allowed to delete tweets per the Presidential Records Act of 1978, enacted out of a concern that former President Richard Nixon could have destroyed the incriminating Watergate tapes which ultimately led to his resignation.

The act relates to any "constitutional, statutory, or other official or ceremonial duties of the President,” which many experts have said includes platforms like Twitter, Facebook, and email.

Whether these tweets will be archived remains an open question, but in June Representative Mike Quigley introduced the The Communications Over Various Feeds Electronically for Engagement (COVFEFE) Act in order to ensure that Mr Trump’s @realdonaldtrump account was included under the 1978 act.

The name of the act was a tongue-in-cheek reference to the President’s deleted 31 May tweet that read: “Despite the constant negative press covfefe”.

“If the President is going to take to social media to make sudden public policy proclamations, we must ensure that these statements are documented and preserved for future reference,” Mr Quigley said in a statement.

There has been no vote on the bill as yet.