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Donald Trump dictated his tweets and requested capital letters and exclamation points, a former aide said at trial.
Madeline Westerhout said Trump preferred her taking notes rather than writing it himself. He then edited them onto paper and sent them off.
“There are words he likes to capitalize…like ‘country,'” she said. “He liked exclamation points.”
Trump is accused of falsifying records to hide payments to porn star Stormy Daniels. He denies the charges.
Mr. Westerhout, who was ultimately fired by Mr. Trump, gave evidence to prosecutors detailing his duties as his boss prepared to take office in 2016 and during his time in the White House.
He added that Trump aide Dan Scavino also had access to the @realDonaldTrump account, but that Westerhout sometimes helped compose tweets when Trump was away.
Westerhout, who had a desk just outside the Oval Office during Trump’s presidency, said he sometimes had her print out drafts of tweets and edit them by hand.
Mr. Trump was an avid Twitter user, but he preferred to call her and dictate his posts to her.
Westerhout said she had to take notes, type the draft quickly and print it out.
In some cases, Trump made further edits. She told the court that she immediately knew what made Trump’s “signature” tweet.
“My recollection is that there were certain words he liked to use in capital letters, words like ‘country’. He liked to use exclamation points,” she said.
“My understanding is that he liked to use the Oxford comma,” she added.
Trump appeared to be watching her closely as she testified, leaning back in her chair.
As far as she knew, he didn’t use a computer and didn’t have an email address.
She also said her former boss liked to do much of his work in the dining room, away from the actual Oval Office.
“He wanted to keep the Resolute Desk very clean,” she said of the famous wooden desk where the president sits.
Westerhout was forced to resign from the White House in 2019 after leaking personal information about his family.
The former president was banned from Twitter in the aftermath of the January 6, 2021 riots for posting messages on the site that risked “further incitement of violence.”
Trump has started his own social media company, called Truth Social, where he posts regularly.
His Twitter account was restored in 2022 by the site’s new owner, Elon Musk.
