Trump’s tweets during his presidency added to the influence of the new sanctions on the ruble.

The authors studied more than 5.5 thousand Trump tweets from October 2016 to August 2018 and selected 296 messages related to Russia. They estimated the short-term (about three days) weakening of the ruble in the international foreign exchange market.

Scientists found that the sanctions against Russia, which were accompanied by Trump’s comments, “led to more serious negative consequences for the ruble compared to those that did not cause a substantial, emotional reaction from the American president.”