The Two-Year Temper Tantrum to Come
Trump’s recent kerfuffle with the press is a preview of his next era.
Yesterday when a judge ordered President Trump to lift a ban on journalists accessing the White House, the immediate crisis appeared to be averted: Trump had lost, and reporters from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico largely returned to their normal work on the grounds. But the maneuver Trump had attempted is a preview of what to expect over Trump’s remaining time in office—especially if Democrats take control of one or both chambers of Congress. To put it another way, the country is headed toward a two-year temper tantrum.
Last Friday, Trump announced on Truth Social that he would ban journalists from the three outlets from the White House “as a result of their constant ‘reporting’ FAKE NEWS!” The reporters promptly sued; in the meantime, the television networks responsible for White House pool coverage suspended that work. The counterproductive result was an odd several days during which Trump went without the traditional passel of reporters hanging on his every word. On Monday, at the unveiling of a new White House helipad, Trump’s remarks were inaudible without the powerful boom microphones used by TV crews. Video streamed by administration staffers showed the vaguely comic sight of Trump silently gesticulating, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. The whole kerfuffle was a display of both Trump’s power and his impotence: damaging to democracy yet also undermining of his own authority.
