Netizens guess: Typo or secret code
Trump previously caused a stir with 'covfefe'
There is much speculation surrounding the mysterious word "Bela" that US President Donald Trump posted on his social networking service (SNS) account.
On the morning of August 17 (local time) at 8:31 a.m., President Trump posted the word "Bela" on his own platform, Truth Social, without any explanation. The word has little meaning in English and is different from the Italian word "bella," which means "beautiful."
The Hill, a US political news outlet, suggested that President Trump may have simply copied something he saw on TV or another media source.
Netizens speculate: 'Typo' or 'Code'
Internet users are also offering a variety of interpretations. Some, though far-fetched, claim that Bela most closely resembles the "Basic Education Laws Amendment" (BELA) in South Africa. Others suggest it is the Romanized form of the Russian word for "white." One user argued that President Trump intended to write "Belarus" but made a typo, while some even speculated that posting "Bela" on SNS might be some kind of code.
The camp of Gavin Newsom, the California governor and a political rival of President Trump, responded to the post by saying, "We took down Trump," and added, "Little Hands Donald (President Trump) wrote an autobiography. Unfortunately (because of his low IQ), he misspelled BETA." Here, "beta" is used as the opposite of "alpha," implying incompetence.
Trump previously sparked controversy with 'covfefe'
This is not the first time President Trump has caused controversy by posting a cryptic phrase.
Back in May 2017, during his first term, President Trump posted "Despite the constant negative press covfefe" on Twitter (the predecessor of X), only to delete it six hours later. At the time, some interpreted "covfefe" as a typo for "coverage."
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