The three things Donald Trump really cares about
He still cares about the media -- a lot.
Trump
has attended two big gatherings in the days since he seized the
presidency. Neither of these sessions brought him together with the
campaign staff that served him so well or a large group of men and women
who might serve in his administration.
Instead
Trump chose to spend hours with the key leaders of the major TV news
networks and the writers and editors of The New York Times.
The
sessions with journalists tell us that Trump remains all-but-obsessed
with the power of the news media. His stagecraft was vintage Trump.
The TV news folks were required to troop to his domain, Trump Tower,
where they were photographed like supplicants coming to honor the
monarch seated high in the sky above them. Instead of the "reset" of a
relationship described by campaign manager Kellyanne Conway, Trump
apparently used much of the meeting as a platform of complaint against
organizations.
The New York Post reported the encounter as a full-on conflict, Brian Stelter wrote that
Trump also asked for a positive relationship between his White House
and the media. The participant said that a New York Post account, which
had a source describing it as Trump giving the assembled members of the
media a "dressing down" like a "firing squad," was overstated.
Ground
rules accepted by the TV news folk made the meeting an off-the-record
affair but as a man with 40 years of experience with the press, Trump
had to know that the tone of his remarks would be shared and thus, his
decision to criticize and scold them must be considered deliberate and
intentional. Within hours he was rewarded by Right Wing media outlets
-- "Trump Eats Press," declared Breitbart News -- where Trump loyalists
would be cheered by the thought of him scolding people they love to
hate.
More
revealing, perhaps, was Trump's encounter at The New York Times. First
there was his decision to demonstrate his respect by trekking to the
Times building (after temporarily canceling the meeting).. Then there
was the agreement to make public the record of their conversation. Here
it's worth noting that by making this demand, the newspaper's executives
showed they are aware of their power and Trump, who knows strength when
he sees it, was willing to bend.
The
transcripts of the Times gathering revealed someone who cares very much
what the paper publishes about him. In the past, Trump attacked his
hometown newspaper with terms such as "third rate" and "wacky" and
"phony" and "failing." But in this session he was conciliatory to the point of fawning as he called the paper "a great, great American jewel."
What's
going on here? The simple, and most essential explanation is that
though Trump cares about TV news, he truly respects the country's
unofficial but widely recognized newspaper of record. As a very young
man, Trump got his big media break when the Times published a profile of
him as a mogul before he really was one. He knew that the paper sets
the agenda for the rest of the media in New York, the nation and
(sometimes) around the world.
In
the time since he has courted its editors and reporters and, with his
usual level of exaggeration, called attention to approving articles. (He
once bragged to me, erroneously, that an article about him was one the
longest ever published in its pages.)
Trump cares about your opinion of him
The
President-elect's interest in demanding or pleading for the approval of
important news outlets coincides with his longstanding, and obviously
ever-present desire to be admired by great numbers of people.
Every
election campaign is, at some level, a popularity contest and no one
should doubt that when he declared his candidacy in June 2015 Trump was,
in part, seeking to show how many people liked him. Presidential
campaigns are routinely reported as a horse race, with poll results
generating a stream of headlines. After a president is elected, the
public's support, measured as an "approval rating," fuels similar
reporting on whether a president is succeeding.
Like
an athlete who takes comfort in the score of a game that has been won,
Trump likes it when the numbers indicate he's doing well. During the
presidential race he often called attention to favorable polls. And as
host of the TV show "The Apprentice" he avidly promoted positive ratings
reports. One of his aides on "The Apprentice" told me that long after
his ratings declined Trump continued to seek attention based on the idea
that he still had a top show. When this was pointed out to him, Trump
ignored the reality and continued to say he was on top.
Similarly,
Trump has used his wealth, or at least the level of wealth he claims to
possess, as an indicator of his success. He has famously lobbied and
then argued with the editors of Forbes magazine, insisting that in their
annual announcements of the richest people in America and the world
that they shortchange him.
As
Trump's complaints to Forbes indicate, he can be impatient when other
people have control of the scoreboard. This is one reason why he is
entranced by social media. He enjoys having direct access to huge
numbers of followers on Facebook and Twitter where he can make whatever
claims he wants to make without being checked by outside authorities.
He exploited social media before and during the campaign and he seems
unable to give it up now.
Perhaps
the least presidential thing Trump does now is issue his own, often
argumentative, statements on Twitter. When a cast member at the hit
Broadway play "Hamilton" made a public post-show plea for Vice
President-elect Mike Pence to keep all Americans in mind, Trump couldn't
help but take offense, in the Twittersphere. He wrote "Our wonderful
future V.P. Mike Pence was harassed last night at the theater by the
cast of Hamilton, cameras blazing. This should not happen!"
Twenty-four
hours later Trump was at it again, complaining about "Saturday Night
Live." "It is a totally one-sided, biased show - nothing funny at all.
Equal time for us?"
Setting
aside the fact that Trump has appeared on the program many times (even
during the campaign), his complaint about "SNL's" bias ignores the many
times the cast has skewered his political rivals. Worse, Trump's tweets
about the TV show and "Hamilton" demonstrate that Trump doesn't
understand the role of press and artists in challenging presidents. He
seems unaware, also, of the need to preserve a certain dignity based on
his status as president-in-waiting.
No
one in such a high position should feel compelled to respond to the
rather mild types of commentary expressed on "SNL" or at the "Hamilton"
performance. Barack Obama, to cite one very apt comparison, didn't
respond every time Donald Trump suggested inaccurately he might not be
legitimately the president because he could have been foreign-born.
Behind
Trump's resentful tweets, of course, resides his deeply felt insecurity
and constant concern for his public image. He may be poised to accept
the most powerful job in the world, but the comments prove he doesn't
really feel powerful. He remains needy and obsessed with making sure
everyone recognizes his greatness.
Complaint
is Trump's longstanding practice and in the transition period he has
shown he remains vulnerable to insult. Sometimes he sees insult when it
isn't even present. The "Hamilton" tweet is
a case in point. As the cast member gave his brief speech, the object
of it, Pence, told his children that the moment demonstrated what
freedom looks like.
Trump still cares about personal profit
Although he has referred to the arrangements he is making for his
businesses as a "blind trust," Trump is keeping his holdings intact and
will put his kids in charge. To expect them to do anything inconsistent
with his wishes is like expecting lion cubs to turn vegetarian. We
should, instead, assume that they will not only inform him of their
activities but they may also exploit his status as president.
No
one elected president has carried into office the complex and far-flung
interests Trump has built over his many decades of entrepreneurial
activity. Trump partnerships and branded projects can be found across
the United States and around the world. Trump has already been subject
to reports that in post-election contacts with leaders in Argentina and
the United Kingdom he may have mixed business with affairs of state.
Despite the demands of the transition, Trump made time to meet with business partners from India.
Worse,
in terms of the image it conveyed, was the effort by one of Ivanka
Trump's businesses to market the bracelet she was seen wearing during an
interview with the TV news program "60 Minutes." Priced at $10,800, the
Ivanka Trump Fine Jewelry piece is made of gold and diamonds. A "style
alert" her company sent to the media noted it is her "favorite bangle." (An executive of the brand said a marketing employee had sent the alert to the media and that the company was still adjusting to the post-election reality. The company said it is considering new policies about how it sells her products.)
Join us on Twitter and Facebook
As
he moves between business and government, President-elect Trump has
made the point that "the law's totally on my side" and a president
"can't have a conflict of interest." That is consistent with his
lifelong practices of equating what is "legal" and what may be the right
thing to do. It is also not entirely accurate. Presidents have long
been given the benefit of the doubt by those who assume they will avoid
conflicts and they are exempt from regulations covering other government
officials. However the US Constitution bars officeholders, arguably
including the president, from receiving "foreign emoluments."
This clause of the Constitution indicated the Founders concern about
undue influences and could provide the basis for a challenge to Trump's
practices should he indicate a conflict.
Although
one can imagine a legal challenge if Trump mixes business and his role
as president, the true counterweight to his more risky impulses is his
desire for approval. Here the time he spent at The New York Times is
most illuminating.
On
position after position, from climate change to the use of torture
against terror suspects, Trump offered the editors and reporters more
nuanced and flexible attitudes than he ever showed during the campaign.
On a personal level, though, his comment about Republicans who rejected
him during the campaign but want to be in his good graces now showed
where his heart tends to go. "Right now, they're in love with me," he
said at the meeting.
In
his candid references to critics who now love him, and new policy
positions that would reassure those who worry about a future with Trump
in the White House, the President-elect reminded us that he wants, more
than anything else, the security that comes when admiration is added to
his wealth. He wants love to go with his money and he's willing to
behave more like a responsible politician if it means he will get it.
No comments
Post a Comment