The first nationally televised presidential debate took place on September 26, 1960. Before debates were televised, most members of the public never saw the presidential candidates in person. They learned about them from the radio and newspapers. Republican nominee, Vice President Richard Nixon, was not well: he had injured his knee and was recovering from a bad cold. He looked sickly under the harsh studio lighting. This was made worse by Nixon’s decision not to wear proper makeup. By comparison, Democratic nominee Senator John F. Kennedy Jr. was energetic, youthful, handsome, and charismatic. Kennedy also had someone from his campaign team do his makeup. What happened next would become part of American political lore.
People who heard the presidential debate on the radio judged Nixon as the winner. Those who watched the debate on television thought that Kennedy had won. The next day, Kennedy would take the lead over Nixon and then go on to win the election by one of the slimmest margins in history. Nixon was leading Kennedy by six points before their first televised debate. American politics had entered the age of television and there was no going back.
The ascendance of Donald Trump as the country’s first elected autocrat is the horrific apotheosis of television’s dominance over American politics and society. Trump’s genius skill as a propagandist is amplified by social media and other forms of digital culture. Trump and his propagandists have mastered these mediums as well. To that point, public opinion polls and other research show that low-information voters who get their “news” from social media such as YouTube, podcasts, Instagram and apps as opposed to traditional media such as newspapers were much more likely to support Trump in the 2024 election. In many ways, the Trumpocene is the mating of a man and a medium in some of the worst ways possible for American democracy and society.
"Trump’s faux daily press briefing and access is more akin to the established TV format of game show host. See 'Let’s Make a Deal.' The super game show host masquerading as a President is seeking ratings, approval and recognition. He is dangling the prize of U.S. support for countries, withdrawing sanctions and punishment of his perceived domestic enemies, such as universities and some law firms. He wants contestants—basically, the entire world—to keep coming back and paying homage and money for his support."
The mainstream American news, even after more than nine years of experience, has still not developed an effective framework or narrative for making sense of confronting Donald Trump and his norm-shattering approach to politics and “leadership.” Public opinion polls have consistently shown that the mainstream news media is experiencing a worsening legitimacy crisis; the news media’s inability to adapt and its many failures of imagination in the Age of Trump largely explain this lack of trust and confidence by the American people.
In his many roles, Donald Trump is more of a character and a symbol than “just” a human being and now president of the United States for a second time (and if he gets his way, a third time in 2028).
Trump rose to national prominence by being a billionaire playboy and socialite in New York in the 1980s and through guest appearances on such shows and movies as "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and "Home Alone 2: Lost in New York." Trump’s book “The Art of the Deal” was a bestseller. Trump's hit NBC show “The Apprentice” cemented his national celebrity status. As I and others have explained, Donald Trump is also a professional wrestling “heel” (villain) who mercilessly insults his opponents (and the audience), is a bully, lies, cheats, and does whatever else he deems necessary to achieve his goals. The worse Trump the heel behaves, the more his fans love him. On Inauguration Day, in his heel professional wrestling persona, Donald Trump even went so far as to sign his first executive orders on stage inside the Capitol One arena as thousands of his fans cheered him on. Trump, acting all the part of a professional wrestler or boxing champion, walked through the crowd at the Capitol One arena on his way to the stage.
Trump’s political rallies and other large gatherings are more like fundamentalist Christian evangelical tent revivals where he is the preacher laying hands and saving souls than they are traditional political rallies. Trump also plays the role of a late night TV infomercial pitchman, selling such things as steaks, books, personalized classes on how to become rich like him, his iconic MAGA hats, t-shirts and other clothing, photos, NFTs, bibles, watches, sneakers, cologne and perfume, membership cards and other Trump-MAGA branded “collectibles” and “memorabilia.” Being “Donald Trump” is a highly lucrative business.
Donald Trump’s manipulation(s) of power and people (and overall approach to politics and being a public figure) are guided by the logic of television and the need to create constant drama and conflict. In this story, Donald Trump is, of course, the main character who is battling against such nefarious forces as “Sleepy Joe Biden,” Lying Kamala,” the evil “Deep State,” “Fake News,” the Democrats, the liberals, socialists, Marxists, WOKE, DEI, CRT and other monsters. In his epic, Trump is also doing battle against countries and their leaders who are taking advantage of the United States and the American people and treating them like suckers. In this apparently never-ending story, Trump is purifying the poison in the blood of the nation by stopping the Hannibal Lecter-like brown illegal aliens, the dog-eating Black Haitians and other invaders who want to destroy “real” (White) Americans and ravage the (White) heartland.
Trump also uses the narrative device of the cliffhanger, where he will not reveal his plans and/or changes them at the last moment before moving on to the next crisis and drama that he (and his MAGA Republicans and other agents) have created.
Trump’s mastery of the logic of television and media in service to his demagoguery was painfully and starkly demonstrated last week by his decision to announce unprecedented global tariffs — these tariffs also targeted America’s closest trade partners. Economists and business leaders are warning that Trump’s tariffs will cause a deep recession if not a depression. Trump announced his historic tariff regime in the format of a game show (Trump described this as “America’s Liberation Day”) with him playing the role of the host.
The BBC neatly summarized the stakes and spectacle as “a high-stakes game of chicken, with the world's economy hanging in the balance.”
Predictably, Trump’s tariffs have caused chaos across the global economy. Last week, the Stock Market lost trillions of dollars in value. It is estimated that Trump’s tariff regime will cost the average American family $3,800 a year. This pain will be amplified by how the Trump administration is gutting the federal budget and firing or otherwise dismissing tens of thousands — and potentially hundreds of thousands — of government employees while also cutting back government programs that stimulate the economy.
Like the compelling character and villain-heel he is, Donald Trump played golf last weekend while the American and global economy spun out of control. Continuing with his “art of the deal” persona, during a speech Tuesday night, Trump told the Republican Congressional Committee that "I'm telling you these countries are calling us up, kissing my ass. They're dying to make a deal." On Wednesday, Trump announced a 90-day pause in his global tariff regime. U.S. stock markets surged with the Dow and the S&P 500 up significantly. While pausing most tariffs, Trump has moved forward on raising tariffs against China by up to 125%. Trump made this announcement via his Truth Social media platform. The following day, Thursday, U.S. stock markets continued their erratic behavior and decline, as CNN reports:
The US stock market tumbled deeply into the red on Thursday as the White House clarified its plan for a massive 145% tariff on China, escalating a trade war.
The Dow, after rising nearly 3,000 points Wednesday, had a volatile day in the red on Thursday. The blue-chip index fell 1,015 points, or 2.5%, pulling back after tumbling as much as 2,100 points midday.
The S&P 500 fell 3.46% and the Nasdaq Composite slid 4.31%. The S&P 500 was coming off its best day since 2008, and the Nasdaq on Wednesday posted its second-best daily gains in history.
The stock market, fresh off its third-best day in modern history, is sinking back into reality: Although President Donald Trump paused most of his “reciprocal” tariffs, his other massive import taxes have already inflicted significant damage, and the economy won’t easily recover from the fallout.
Via email, David Altheide, who is a leading expert on the media, shared this context for Trump’s game show-like approach to “governance”:
Trump’s faux daily press briefing and access is more akin to the established TV format of game show host. See “Let’s Make a Deal.” The super game show host masquerading as a President is seeking ratings, approval and recognition. He is dangling the prize of U.S. support for countries, withdrawing sanctions and punishment of his perceived domestic enemies, such as universities and some law firms. He wants contestants—basically, the entire world—to keep coming back and paying homage and money for his support. Greenland, Canada, Ukraine, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo are but a few of the countries he is basically blackmailing to give up their precious metals and minerals in exchange for being left alone, protection, or provided military and economic support.
Indeed, he will use USAID food benefits as a bargaining chip. That’s why support for food, medicine, and vaccines are being withdrawn worldwide: They are used to “make a deal,” as in give us your tapped and untapped wealth—and much of your economic future — and the U. S. will give you food and protection. Protection and survival come at a price driven by scarcity and markets, not values, morality, and even strategic national interest. With the Ukraine, he withheld some military support until he got the “right answer.” As Trump said in his takedown of Ukraine President Zelensky, “you don’t have the cards.”
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Altheide continues:
President Trump’s relentless assault on American institutions, economic theory, and the world economy is front and center of the world’s media. As it should be. Or not. Trump continues to play at being the star of the show, and in keeping with the entertainment format and media logic that got him his start, continues to strive to be the dominant personality of the world. He plays unbridled power. He directs from a fat chair in front of cameras. The U. S. lost $5 trillion in market value in two days, but the President’s family and business grows as thousands of golf fans, including the governor of Saudi Arabia’s $925 billion sovereign wealth fund, swarm with MAGA hats and cigars. Sharpie pens, like the ones he uses for executive orders, sell for $3 at Mar-a-Lago.
Trump’s TV focus has shifted from hate and the politics of fear of migrants and criminals to good news about an economic future and country-without-migrants by turning the calendar back to isolationism. His audiences are social media feeds, Fox News, quaking allies, and others (e.g., law firms) under attack. His Friday (April 4, 2025) social media feed: TO THE MANY INVESTORS COMING INTO THE UNITED STATES AND INVESTING MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF MONEY, MY POLICIES WILL NEVER CHANGE. THIS IS A GREAT TIME TO GET RICH, RICHER THAN EVER BEFORE!!! Trump is television with consequences for the world economy, for consumers and workers—many of whom elected Trump, for starving third world people who are cutoff from American foreign aid, and global alliances built on 80 years of trust and trade negotiations that helped sustain world prosperity, stability and peaceful coexistence with adversaries. And he even disparages close allies — Canada and Mexico — just to keep the world watching and wondering about his menacing persona. And it works.
The mainstream news media’s failures in understanding and explaining Donald Trump’s union of media, entertainment, and politics in the era of social media are numerous.
These failures begin with an obsolete set of assumptions and a crisis in imagination about the strength of American democracy and its political and societal institutions, the permanence of the rule of law and respect for the Constitution, and the character of the American people and how tens of millions of them are authoritarians or otherwise sufficiently compelled towards such antidemocratic values, beliefs, and behavior to put an open authoritarian and autocrat back in the White House.
The mainstream news media’s slavish adherence to obsolete norms about “fairness,” “balance, “objectivity,” “bothsidesism,” obsessions with the polls and the horserace, and a dunderheaded insistence on treating Donald Trump the then candidate and now president like a traditional politician instead of an extreme danger to American democracy were easily exploited if not crushed by Trump and his MAGA authoritarian populist movement and its operatives and forces. The Russian propaganda technique of “flooding the zone” mostly (and continues to) drowned the mainstream American news media. In response, the American news media as an institution is choosing to surrender and submit to Donald Trump and the authoritarian populist MAGA movement. As has been seen in other countries whose democracies have collapsed to authoritarianism and fascism, such anticipatory obedience and other acts of surrender and supplication will, at best, offer only temporary and illusory safety.
In a new essay, independent journalist Marcy Wheeler offers these insights about the American news media’s failures in the Age of Trump as demonstrated by their coverage of his apparent plans to seek a third term in office:
Trump’s genius is in managing attention: both keeping it, and directing it away and towards topics of his choosing. He has long integrated assertions about a third term into his political spiel. This is nothing new (indeed, NBC linked an earlier instance in the story). And yet NBC — along with a pack of credulous pundits — chose to focus on Trump’s third term comments all day Sunday rather on the things he did in the last week, covering up disappearances on Monday, tampering in elections on Tuesday, assaulting the independence of another law firm on Wednesday, attacking unions and whitewashing history on Thursday, compromising DC self-rule on Friday, that are obviously about a third term and beyond.
How can you have lived through that week, or any of the last nine, and have doubts about the intent here? Why do you think hypothetical discussions about assaults on the Constitution will better serve fighting back than concrete discussion and organizing about specific assaults on it?
Do not gape at spectacular language. Do not let it distract you from more concrete reality that can be directly addressed. That is the goal of it. Rather, neutralize it, point to it as such, rob its power.
This seems to be yet another instance where journalists and liberals, both of whom institutionally presume that language is transparent, misunderstand how authoritarians use language instrumentally and therefore forgo the most effective response to instrumental language.
Altheide offers these suggestions about how the American news media should adapt to Trump’s autocratic rule and quest for dictatorial power:
Look at me. Look at me. Trump holds court with a clamoring media seeking to ask a question. This works until it doesn’t. Journalists and some organizations have been edited out or been essentially chilled from being too provocative and critical for him to give a witty, brazen, but seldom truthful answer….
Trump rides media logic. The media formats on which Trump and the news media rely, must be broken. TV entertainment formats enable President Trump to continue to set the agenda and direct the focus rather than shifting format and allocating time to escape the media tunnel focus on Trump. The key issue that must guide media coverage is how Trump’s agenda, policies, and appointees are destroying democratic institutions and the rule of law. This is Gonzo Governance. Networks should cover the onslaught of Gonzo Governance, the way they cover weather: Daily, graphically showing stormy patterns and attacks on institutions and civil liberties. Specific issues and problems with fascist attacks must be developed and followed up. Trump and his Republican sycophants should be asked repeatedly about the breakdowns, harms to people, and basically put them on the defensive. For example, the Trump administration clearly is not following judge’s rulings. Networks should be blasting a version of an Amber Alert for Disappeared People, grabbed off the street and university campuses by masked agents, who shunt them off to another state or a brutal prison in El Salvador. News reports should develop this and compare it to what is done in authoritative regimes. But TV network news is not doing this. It is time to change the channel to a new format.
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During Trump’s first presidency, the mainstream news media and the larger responsible political class was still largely operating from a self-assured and self-soothing (and incorrect belief) that Trump was some type of “dotard,” an incompetent who was more bluster than an existential threat to the country’s democracy and freedom.
With Trump’s return to power, the American media’s mockery and hubris has been replaced by fear and terror of Trump’s revenge and retribution. In the more “innocent” time of Trump’s first administration, there was the dark joke that he was actually Andy Kaufman in disguise and that this was all an elaborate act of performance art about the gullible nature of the American people and the worst of their individual and collective character as personified by the rise of the MAGA movement. Donald Trump is no Andy Kaufman and none of this disaster is funny.
Donald Trump and his campaign to end American democracy and turn the United States into a version of Putin’s Russia or Orbán’s Hungary (or something much worse) is becoming more powerful and dangerous every day. Contrary to what hope-peddlers and happy-pill sellers in the news media and commentariat would like the American people to believe, Trump is never going to stop. Why should he? The so-called Resistance has been mostly ineffective and America’s democracy is collapsing very quickly. The Age of Trump is not a TV show. There will be no deus ex machina moment or big plot twist where the hero saves the American people. To borrow from media theorist and cultural critic Neil Postman, the American people “amused themselves to death” and put Donald Trump back in the White House. Now they are experiencing how the resulting disaster is neither funny nor entertaining.
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