A Study On The Trump Administration’s Digitalized Public Diplomacy In The Post-Truth Era

Since the beginning of the 21st century,public diplomacy has been relying on scientific and technological progress in the stage of digital public diplomacy,which is manifested in the enlargement of the subject and object of public diplomacy,the increasing importance of dialogue as the main contact mode and narrative consistency.In 2016,the term "post-truth" was widely used and discussed in Western news coverage after the election of Donald Trump as US president and the Brexit vote in the UK.The "post-truth" era not only has an important impact on the domestic political life of the United States,but also has an impact on the field of digital public diplomacy.From the perspective of American domestic political life to the field of American digital public diplomacy,this paper examines the challenges brought by the "post-truth" era to the field of American digital public diplomacy.The "post-truth" era is mainly characterized by the flood of false information and fake news,which also rely on digital technology to flood and form their own unique language style.Moreover,various complex information disposes of authority.This makes it more difficult for digital public diplomacy to deliver true news and true information,the objects of public diplomacy are more divided,and the ways of communication change from monologue to dialogue,and then to "limited dialogue".Finally,in the post-truth era,it is both more difficult and more important to build consistent narratives to convey information and promote understanding.This paper takes the digital public diplomacy carried out by the Trump administration during the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study to analyze how the Trump administration competed for the discourse right of the pandemic from consular assistance,foreign aid,questioning the origin of the virus and monitoring China,and Russia’s narrative in the pandemic.On the one hand,it is of reference significance for China to carry out public diplomacy by using digital technology.On the other hand,it is also necessary to guard against and fight against the stigmatization and politicization of the United States,so as to construct a true narrative of China’s great struggle against the pandemic.