Thank you for your attention to this matter: Trump's iron-hand-in-velvet-glove approach to social media


Cody Combs
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"Thank you for your attention to this matter" has closed hundreds of US President Donald Trump's social media posts, from policy directives to commendations to profanity-laced screeds directed at political opponents.

In the years since he announced his pursuit of the presidency in 2015, Mr Trump has become known for his quirky and often rude online communication style.

Even if you've somehow managed to avoid the news cycle over the past decade, chances are you've heard Mr Trump call an opponent a "total disaster" or describe something as "the likes of which nobody has ever seen before".

When asked to attribute a talking point or quote, Mr Trump often falls back on his tried and true catch-all phrase of "many people are saying".

Most of what some have described as Mr Trump's verbal tics originated during his first term.

But since he returned to the White House for his second term, he has worked a new phrase into his rotation – although mostly on social media. Many announcements, accolades and rants on his Truth Social platform have concluded with the overly formal "thank you for your attention to this matter".

Media outlets have sought to keep track of how many times Mr Trump has used the phrase. Some estimates have him using it more than 240 times over the first year of his new term.

US President Donald Trump has been prolific with the use of "thank you for your attention to this matter" on his Truth Social app.
US President Donald Trump has been prolific with the use of "thank you for your attention to this matter" on his Truth Social app.

Even the most casual observer has probably noticed how often Mr Trump has used it in the months-long conflict with Iran.

Abbie Marono, a behavioural scientist who has occasionally provided training to the US Secret Service, FBI, Department of Homeland Security and local law enforcement agencies across the US, said Mr Trump's use of the phrase is more than simply closing a message.

"Linguistically, it functions like a command disguised as politeness, and it sounds courteous on the surface, but the structure implies that the issue has already been elevated to something that deserves attention, compliance, or action," Ms Marono said.

Although it's not clear if Mr Trump has knowingly put a lot of thought behind thanking us for our attention, Ms Marono, author of The Upper Hand: Mastering persuasion and getting what you want with social engineering, said that over the past few decades, the phrase has increasingly carried the tone of institutional authority.

"This is the kind of thing people associate with formal letters, legal communication, official notices, or workplace directives," she said, adding that using it on social media gives weight to a medium that is usually associated with fleeting thoughts.

According to Google's Ngram search tool, which tracks the use of phrases in published books stretching back to the 1800s, "thank you for your attention to this matter" started to gain in popularity in the 1940s throughout the US.

Google's Ngram tracker shows that use of the phrase 'thank you for your attention to this matter' started to gain traction in the US during the 1940s. (Google)
Google's Ngram tracker shows that use of the phrase 'thank you for your attention to this matter' started to gain traction in the US during the 1940s. (Google)

"It can make the message feel less like a casual opinion and more like an official instruction or announcement," Ms Marono said, explaining that Mr Trump's habit of using it frequently is also worth exploring.

"The repetition is where it becomes particularly meaningful. Over time, that repetition strengthens the effect and turns the phrase into a consistent cue that shapes how the audience interprets the message, especially when they are posting frequently."

Ms Marono also pointed out "the fact that something becomes a habit does not mean it loses its function".

Yet that repetition, as has often been the case with Mr Trump's communication strategy, can be a knife that cuts both ways: critics have occasionally employed it for parody and ridicule of the President's actions.

"Hey Trump, you're fired, thank you for your attention to this matter," Iran's military spokesman Ebrahim Zolfaghari said on camera, following frequent US claims that the Iranian military had been completely destroyed. "You're fired" is a phrase Mr Trump was famous for during his tenure as host of the reality television show, The Apprentice.

Even his harshest critics would agree that Mr Trump has never been one to let ridicule get in the way of how he communicates – but he has no trouble adapting.

"We must not delay any further on this very important matter," he wrote in a recent post.

Updated: May 25, 2026, 8:31 PM