I recall some months ago asking on one of your posts why trump’s Truth social posts were being used as a source for this reason. Do you think you are alone as a journalist in your questioning of using it as a source to respond to every time there’s a post or are others catching on?
Definitely don’t think I’m alone, but do think more journalists could use more discernment. One of the biggest issues, in my opinion, is that most news stories about posts like the ones I cited *do* mention things like Trump not having issued an actual EO to accompany a threat or the EO being legally vulnerable -- but they often bury it further down, or don’t properly word their headlines to communicate the nuance. I think the issue isn’t necessarily that other journalists aren’t reporting along these lines, it’s that they’re making it a small part of a bigger story framed around the announcement, when the framing should arguably be the other way around.
Thanks Gabe. It’s really interesting how this shifts the framing for me, as a reader. When it’s framed as a smaller part of something intended to be inflammatory I become…inflamed. When it’s framed as the bigger story I become informed!
Thank-you for putting this together in such an easy to follow summary of what is (or isn't!) going on.
Just the other day my wife and I were talking about Tariffs and whether the "basic" ones were 10% or 15%... each of us was convinced it was a different number. And, I guess we were both right.
Personally, when I see these pronouncements ~ many arriving in the middle of the night ~ I try to follow-up on them to understand what they really mean but it is a daunting task as so much of it is disconnected to anything real. And certainly not the legislative or regulatory process: much of it is the power of "magical thinking" by a man who is loath to do the work or handle the follow-up.
Clearly our Media needs to do a better job of tracking these "effective immediately" annoucements after they are announced.
This is a good piece of reporting by WUTP as it clearly places us in the real world of what is and not the world of "magical thinking" that the President simply wishes it was.
Why do I need to check whitehouse.gov. I've got Wake Up to Politics to keep me informed! Thanks!
It is great to see you are getting responses from the White House. Too bad they are as useless as the responses I get from Tom Kean, Jr. (my rep) on any topic.
Brilliant piece, Gabe! Practicing journalists everywhere, GenZ through Boomer, should read this to see how it's done. This is reporting without fear or favor.
Given so strong a likelihood that a president’s announcement on one topic or another does not and never will carry the force of law, the Congress could just pass a resolution to say that a president’s orders are illegal if the president doesn’t cite some law for authorization.
The slackening of the constraints on presidential orders since the beginning of the Cold War is one of the things that has drawn authoritarian fantasists like Trump into presidential campaigns: the hope that they could direct national affairs and establish ruling juntas without any external controls or concessions to opponents. Among the manifold failings of the federal government under the Trumpian alliance is that even those with the authority to ensure that Trump would maintain space for consensus to assert itself, and did not override their own authorities, have usually found it detrimental to their electoral position to assert those powers. The less of a point there is to every show of opposition to the president, the closer the country slides toward a presidential dictatorship. I am afraid that we will have gained nothing from the experience of the Trump era if it doesn’t end with a resurgence of the libertarian left and a rebalancing of the constitutional system towards the Congress.
Given the Trump administration's contention that government is the problem and not the solution, they feel entirely free to make and break promises, lie about anything, engage in dysfunctional mass firings, use positional leverage to enrich themselves, and generally behave in any way that casts the government in an unfavorable light. It's all part of the mission.
Trump’s directives are trial balloons waiting for a string and a weight or a BB gun. If we had functioning media or Congress there would be a fair analysis as to which should occur.
The style does result in some substance. Today I read that NC found 34,000 deceased people on the voter rolls and formalized an agreement to use the SAVE system to determine whether there are noncitizens on the rolls. There should not need to be a Presidential threat nor a need to find numerous voter miscreants to assure vigilance concerning the voter rolls.
Still the “whirling dervish” form of governance is wearing, at best.
I do think Trump tests out his theories in social media first to see how they land like real time marketing research but that also makes me less certain that he is actually responsible for any real life outcomes. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, though!
Shoddy record keeping impugns the veracity of any election. We had a recent election in NC which was decided by 23 votes out of 26,000. Many believe that the Chicago Machine "voted the graveyard", i.e. precinct workers cast ballots in the name of deceased voters who were still on the rolls in the 1960 presidential election.
Emily, absolutely in every way. It's long, but hard to put down. The writing is mesmerizing, too. Long smooth descriptive sentences without an unnecessary word. He captures not only the political facts but the psychology of LBJ. I read these long ago when released and they have stuck near the front of my memory.
Since the beginning of Trump’s first term as President I have felt that if he says something he will usually do the opposite. And when he says he won’t do something, chances are good that he will. The scary part comes when he doesn’t say anything and something happens. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen very often as he loves to talk!
I recall some months ago asking on one of your posts why trump’s Truth social posts were being used as a source for this reason. Do you think you are alone as a journalist in your questioning of using it as a source to respond to every time there’s a post or are others catching on?
Definitely don’t think I’m alone, but do think more journalists could use more discernment. One of the biggest issues, in my opinion, is that most news stories about posts like the ones I cited *do* mention things like Trump not having issued an actual EO to accompany a threat or the EO being legally vulnerable -- but they often bury it further down, or don’t properly word their headlines to communicate the nuance. I think the issue isn’t necessarily that other journalists aren’t reporting along these lines, it’s that they’re making it a small part of a bigger story framed around the announcement, when the framing should arguably be the other way around.
Thanks Gabe. It’s really interesting how this shifts the framing for me, as a reader. When it’s framed as a smaller part of something intended to be inflammatory I become…inflamed. When it’s framed as the bigger story I become informed!
Thank-you for putting this together in such an easy to follow summary of what is (or isn't!) going on.
Just the other day my wife and I were talking about Tariffs and whether the "basic" ones were 10% or 15%... each of us was convinced it was a different number. And, I guess we were both right.
Personally, when I see these pronouncements ~ many arriving in the middle of the night ~ I try to follow-up on them to understand what they really mean but it is a daunting task as so much of it is disconnected to anything real. And certainly not the legislative or regulatory process: much of it is the power of "magical thinking" by a man who is loath to do the work or handle the follow-up.
Clearly our Media needs to do a better job of tracking these "effective immediately" annoucements after they are announced.
This is a good piece of reporting by WUTP as it clearly places us in the real world of what is and not the world of "magical thinking" that the President simply wishes it was.
Love that story about you and your wife — real-world example of the sort of confusion these non-enacted announcements cause!
Why do I need to check whitehouse.gov. I've got Wake Up to Politics to keep me informed! Thanks!
It is great to see you are getting responses from the White House. Too bad they are as useless as the responses I get from Tom Kean, Jr. (my rep) on any topic.
Audio!
Strong piece, Gabe. LOVE the audio.
Great analysis. Like the audio with you reading.
Outstanding column as always. Also, I really enjoy the audio post. Great job!!
Thanks so much, Jeff!
Brilliant piece, Gabe! Practicing journalists everywhere, GenZ through Boomer, should read this to see how it's done. This is reporting without fear or favor.
Many decades ago Mayor Ed Koch of NYC said "I wouldn't trust anything Donald Trump says even if his tongue was notarized".
Given so strong a likelihood that a president’s announcement on one topic or another does not and never will carry the force of law, the Congress could just pass a resolution to say that a president’s orders are illegal if the president doesn’t cite some law for authorization.
The slackening of the constraints on presidential orders since the beginning of the Cold War is one of the things that has drawn authoritarian fantasists like Trump into presidential campaigns: the hope that they could direct national affairs and establish ruling juntas without any external controls or concessions to opponents. Among the manifold failings of the federal government under the Trumpian alliance is that even those with the authority to ensure that Trump would maintain space for consensus to assert itself, and did not override their own authorities, have usually found it detrimental to their electoral position to assert those powers. The less of a point there is to every show of opposition to the president, the closer the country slides toward a presidential dictatorship. I am afraid that we will have gained nothing from the experience of the Trump era if it doesn’t end with a resurgence of the libertarian left and a rebalancing of the constitutional system towards the Congress.
Thanks Gabe! Great article and tremendous work as always.
Thank you, Gregg!
DJT is literally the definition of a 'blow hard'. Failing to fact check and collaborate is not just poor journalism, it's serious neglect....
Given the Trump administration's contention that government is the problem and not the solution, they feel entirely free to make and break promises, lie about anything, engage in dysfunctional mass firings, use positional leverage to enrich themselves, and generally behave in any way that casts the government in an unfavorable light. It's all part of the mission.
Trump’s directives are trial balloons waiting for a string and a weight or a BB gun. If we had functioning media or Congress there would be a fair analysis as to which should occur.
The style does result in some substance. Today I read that NC found 34,000 deceased people on the voter rolls and formalized an agreement to use the SAVE system to determine whether there are noncitizens on the rolls. There should not need to be a Presidential threat nor a need to find numerous voter miscreants to assure vigilance concerning the voter rolls.
Still the “whirling dervish” form of governance is wearing, at best.
What was Comey thinking?
I do think Trump tests out his theories in social media first to see how they land like real time marketing research but that also makes me less certain that he is actually responsible for any real life outcomes. Even a broken clock is right twice a day, though!
The real question is if any deceased voted.
Shoddy record keeping impugns the veracity of any election. We had a recent election in NC which was decided by 23 votes out of 26,000. Many believe that the Chicago Machine "voted the graveyard", i.e. precinct workers cast ballots in the name of deceased voters who were still on the rolls in the 1960 presidential election.
Robert Caro, in his 4-volumes on LBJ, documents huge voting fraud in Texas during that era.
Worth reading? I’ve been toying with diving in.
Emily, absolutely in every way. It's long, but hard to put down. The writing is mesmerizing, too. Long smooth descriptive sentences without an unnecessary word. He captures not only the political facts but the psychology of LBJ. I read these long ago when released and they have stuck near the front of my memory.
For a decade, I have been amazed that anyone actually believes anything this man says.
Since the beginning of Trump’s first term as President I have felt that if he says something he will usually do the opposite. And when he says he won’t do something, chances are good that he will. The scary part comes when he doesn’t say anything and something happens. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen very often as he loves to talk!