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How the Media Fails With Trump. Over and Over. (And Over.)
Plus: The people of Minneapolis are amazing.
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I am doing an AMA right here! In a few minutes! Come and hang out with me at 1:00 p.m. in the East!
Also: The Secret Show will be out soon. So today’s newsletter will be short.
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1. Face/Off
I have been driven to distraction by the reporting on Trump’s Davos speech in American media. Did you know that the president of the United States “ruled out” invading Greenland?
Axios: “In Davos speech, Trump rules out using military force to take Greenland”
Politico: “Trump rules out using force to acquire Greenland”
ABC News: “Trump rules out using military force to acquire Greenland in Davos speech”
CBS News: “Trump backs off tariff threats, rules out military force over Greenland”
Fox Business: “Markets rally after Trump rules out military action in Greenland dispute”
CNBC: “Trump calls for ‘immediate negotiations’ on Greenland, but rules out using force”
You get the picture. But did Trump actually rule it out? By which I mean: Trump said a bunch of words. Do those words equal an official binding policy position for the president of the United States?
Well, just a few days before Davos, Trump wrote that America must have “Complete and Total Control of Greenland.” And then, after Davos, he seemed to abandon this position.
Art of the Deal!
But if everything Trump says is just positioning and in an ongoing negotiation then nothing he says can ever be taken at face value. He has not actually “ruled out” the use of force. Those are just some words he said, which can be abandoned, reversed, or ignored at any point.
The media tends to treat Trump’s more insane statements as ephemeral, but then turns around and treats his climb-downs as binding.
For instance: Trump can say a dozen times that he might run for a third term and the media reports it as “Trump said this crazy thing about running again.” But then Trump gives one interview where he says he won’t run again and the coverage is: “Trump rules out third term.”
Why does the media do this?
Every organization has its own reasons.¹ But in general, I think it’s a coping mechanism born of the reality that the mainstream media was not built to deal with an aspiring authoritarian force. They cannot believe what is happening around them and so, whenever something that feels normal, safe, or sane comes out of Trump’s mouth, they treat it as if that’s the real policy while everything else was just noise.
This is a mistake, and a dangerous one. Because it misrepresents our fundamental reality. It’s a form of sane-washing. And while it may be comforting to reporters and editors, it contributes to the authoritarian’s progress.²
2. Minneapolis
I first discovered podcaster Margaret Killjoy as a guest on Behind the Bastards and now I follow her pretty religiously. She went to Minneapolis to report what she’s seeing on the ground and I’m