Analysis of Donald Trump’s social media output over the past six months reveals a pattern of grievance-driven messaging, according to a report published today by the Centre for the Study of Digital Politics at the University of Oxford. The study examined more than 2,000 posts from the former US president’s account on Truth Social, his primary platform since January 2021.
The researchers coded each post for emotional tone, policy content, and references to personal or political adversaries. They found that 68 per cent of posts contained language classified as grievance-based, focusing on perceived slights, electoral fraud allegations, or attacks on his political opponents. Only 12 per cent of posts addressed substantive policy issues such as trade or immigration.
Dr. Eleanor Marling, the report’s lead author, said the findings suggested a strategic retreat from traditional political communication. “The dominance of grievance framing suggests a campaign model built less on policy persuasion than on reinforcing a narrative of victimhood. This is a departure from previous presidential communication styles, which sought to appeal beyond a core base.”
The study compared Trump’s output with that of other Republican candidates in the 2024 primary cycle. While all showed elevated negative sentiment, Trump’s reliance on grievance was three times higher than the average.
Critics of the methodology note that Trump’s use of social media has long been unconventional. His campaign dismissed the report as “elite British analysis that ignores the real concerns of working Americans.”
The report comes amid ongoing debates about the health of American democratic institutions and the role of social media in amplifying polarising rhetoric. The Oxford team plans a follow-up study examining the relationship between Trump’s online messaging and offline political events.
The findings will be published in full next month in the Journal of Political Communication.
