Trump's new philosophy

Art by Abe Finch Smith

There’s no denying that Donald Trump is a master manipulator - whether you support his presidency or not, he’s made a name for himself by employing provocative, rhetoric, and populist themes to firmly cement his “us vs. them” narrative. His often controversial statements have allowed him to stir up enough decisiveness to keep him at the center of the American Spotlight and create the “Trump Universe.”

Trump has spent four years between administrations, fine-tuning his media apparatus to keep an even half of the country focused on culture war distractions that have literally nothing to do with them - like migrants in Aurora, DEI in schools, or “the communists”. 

And I would add that it goes in the other direction as well, with many left-wing media excessively focusing on debates over “cancel culture”, or transgender rights. That’s not to say these things are not important, but both sides of this debate feed the same media-industrial complex that thrives off anger-fueled ignorance.

In times where this is a norm for such a wide margin, it's easy for people to get enraged (which is understandable), but what if that’s exactly what They want you to do? Let’s talk about this man:

His name is Steve Bannon. He’s the former chief political strategist to Trump Whitehouse, and the architect of the MAGA framework. A few weeks ago, he did… a gesture… right around the time Elon Musk was getting serious backlash for doing the same gesture. 

It’s very hard to find any reasonable explanation for that abomination that isn’t immediately offensive to the 80 million people who died, and he knew that. 

Back in 2018, during an interview with The Daily Beast, Bannon spoke about his “Flooding the Zone” Tactic. He described how he intended to overwhelm and dominate the media landscape with constant, often controversial, content. The goal was to ensure that no single issue or narrative could be allowed to gain traction. 

"We’re going to flood the zone with shit"

The system he described would function on generating distraction and outrage. To keep America stunned, allowing Trump’s people to swiftly take complete control of the government, while anyone who would wish to oppose it would be left in the dust. 

The media apparatus does a great job of keeping the right ignorant by constantly reinforcing themes of victimhood and cultural threats. When those meet with left-wing media, it creates a sort of  "false equivalence" in coverage. 

For example, when Fox News makes a story about "wokeness" or “DEI,” CNN may feel pressured to give equal weight to both sides (as per journalistic integrity), even when the actual threat or issue is not equally relevant or dangerous. This gives the right disproportionate airtime on left-leaning media and can distort the public’s perception of the ideological divide in the country.

It’s very hard, however, to run that machine. And we’re already starting to see cracks forming in the administration. The massive layoffs were a messy rush, with little to no evidence. Many workers have said they were fired, re-hired, and fired again within a week. 

Also, within the administration there has been quite a bit of in-fighting. Elon Musk and Marco Rubio had a confrontation earlier this month in which Rubio claimed Musk gave buyout offers to thousands of air traffic controllers which Musk said was a “lie.” This all boiled over to Trump essentially demoting Elon. 

The New York Times said this:

“The president made clear he still supported the mission of the Musk initiative. But now was the time, he said, to be a bit more refined in its approach. From now on, he said, the secretaries would be in charge; the Musk team would only advise.”

Leftists must be able to differentiate between the culture war and the political war that Trump is promoting here. Besides the Nazi salutes, there is a message here that we must all do a better job of seeing in Trump's new term. Stay vigilant.