Donald Trump's art of 'playing' with the media

Donald Trump constantly attracts attention to maintain "coverage" in the media and even plays pranks on them.

Donald Trump greets the crowd gathered in the lobby of the New York Times building on November 22. Photo: Reuters

In the space of just 24 hours this week, US President-elect Donald Trump has created a whirlwind of events that preview the drama he is likely to bring to the White House.

Mr Trump summoned two dozen television executives and news anchors to his office on November 21 to berate them for being dishonest. He suggested that the British government appoint Brexit leader Nigel Farage as ambassador to the US. He dropped his threat to prosecute his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton, even though “lock her up” was one of his most popular campaign slogans.

Then, on November 22, Mr. Trump met with the New York Times, a newspaper he once derided as “in decline.” The meeting’s date was repeatedly changed. During the meeting, he softened his stance on climate change, dropped the idea that his son-in-law could broker peace in the Middle East, raised new doubts about the effectiveness of torture against terrorism suspects, criticized Republicans who had questioned him, and still did not clarify how or whether he would separate himself from his global business empire to avoid conflicts of interest.

Welcome to Trump's world, a never-ending drama in which the actor moves from one controversy to the next with a series of Twitter posts and off-the-cuff comments to the media, writes Washington Post columnist Philip Rucker.

This could become the new normal in Washington when the billionaire moves into the White House. “He’s like a character in a novel,” said Sam Nunberg, a former adviser to Mr Trump. “Americans have never had a tycoon — a successful, high-profile businessman who understands the tabloids and the media and profits from them,” Nunberg said.

Sean Wilentz, a presidential historian at Princeton University, said the “reality show-like turmoil” Mr Trump has brought is striking and unprecedented. “No president-elect, let alone president, has brought as much drama as Mr Trump,” he said. “Five crises in one day — and more to come.”

Over his four decades in business, Mr. Trump has been an unpredictable and somewhat sly rule-breaker who likes to talk about being a bad student and how he convinced banks to keep him in control of his casino empire even after the company suffered a series of bankruptcies.

“Anything that gets media attention is good,” said Roy Cohn, a lawyer who once advised Mr. Trump. Mr. Trump took that advice to heart, providing reporters with a steady stream of stories about his “playboy” life, rebellious business style, controversial stances and other scandals. In 1990, when the tabloids were reporting on the breakdown of Mr. Trump’s first marriage, the billionaire said, “The show is Trump and it’s sold out everywhere.”

During the campaign, Mr. Trump did not seem too upset or embarrassed when the press exposed his contradictory views on issues like abortion and the Iraq war. “Who cares what I said 10 years ago?” he asked in a June interview with the Washington Post. “Nobody, except you,” the billionaire said.

Mr. Trump explained that when he speaks to crowds at rallies, he often does not look down at the audience but looks at the television cameras, checking to see if the red lights on the cameras are on, meaning that his words will be broadcast on television.

“I’m going to say something new to keep that red light on,” Trump said — and if it contradicts what he said years or even weeks ago, it doesn’t matter as much as keeping the red light on, Rucker observed.

Hoax

BuzzFeed editor-in-chief Ben Smith pointed out earlier this year that Trump’s Twitter account not only serves as a megaphone for his followers (he had 13 million Twitter followers on election day), but also as a source of scripts for television news. Trump will tweet new attacks early in the morning, and by the time the newsroom opens, editors will make them the top story of the day, according to the Guardian.

According to a study by mediaQuant, Mr. Trump received free advertising, with media exposure worth $5.2 billion. In return, cable channels also enjoyed large viewership.

"I hope there is an internal audit at the news and cable networks that have given Donald Trump billions of dollars in free advertising, yet routinely downplay his outrageous claims,"John Weaver, chief strategist for Mr Trump's primary opponent, John Kasich, said."He has been underrated by many media outlets."

On September 16, as the Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Trump "herded" political reporters to a press conference by promising to issue a statement - widely assumed to be an apology - about questioning President Obama's birthplace.

The event took place at the Pennsylvania Avenue post office, which Trump had recently converted into a luxury hotel. After 26 minutes of press conference, he got to the main topic. He acknowledged that President Obama was born in the United States, but then blamed Hillary Clinton for starting the rumor.

So after nearly half an hour of free advertising, not only for his campaign but also for his new hotel, Mr. Trump issued a 30-second statement with accusations against his opponent. “We’ve been played again,” CNN journalist John King lamented.

Each phase of Trump’s career has been accompanied by a roller coaster of a relationship with the media, from glowing praise and surprise at his success to news of scandal and career failure. Each chapter of Trump’s life has led to questions about what Trump is really like beneath the braggadocio and self-promotion.

Mr. Trump himself has often said that he is confused by that question. He says he is simply a businessman and that his goal is to win. The path to victory is to crush opponents, respond to “losers” who criticize him, and say whatever it takes to get there.Rucker writes.

According to VNE