New year, same media strategy: downplay Trump’s most dangerous, extreme ideas as “trolling” or even “branding.”
President-elect Donald Trump speaks to members of the media during a news conference in Mar-a-Lago on January 7, 2025. in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Scott Olson/Getty Images)
I made the mistake of turning on the TV on Tuesday afternoon during Donald Trump’s messy press conference. It sounded like the greatest hits of his failed presidency – complaining about the pressure in water-saving showers and toilets and the dangers of windmills. I immediately turned it off. I must have missed some new angry Trumpisms, including a threat to use military force to annex Greenland and take back the Panama Canal (it wasn’t clear if that threat extended to his plan to make Canada our 51st state) and a promise to rename the Gulf of Mexico ” American Gulf”.
Asked by a reporter if he ruled out the use of military force against Greenland and Panama, Trump replied: “I can’t assure you. You are talking about Panama and Greenland. No, I can’t assure you of either of those two, but I can say this. They are needed for economic security. The Panama Canal was built for our military. I’m not going to take it on now. You may have to do something.’
As expected, MAGA Republicans applauded Trump’s boasting. The New York Post called his militant nationalism “the Donro doctrine”. Representative Brian Mast, Chairman of the House Committee on Foreign Affairs, tweeted: “It’s all American — to dream big. It’s not American to be afraid of big dreams. I, for one, could not be more proud of this president @realDonaldTrump has the greatest vision of America.”
Perhaps predictably, some reporters were quick to scoff at the notion that Trump would do something as crazy as use military force against Greenland, which is an original NATO signatory of Denmark, obligating the rest of NATO to defend. Yes, it’s crazy, but so is much of what it promises. And in his second term, he deserves no doubt.
CNN analyst Maggie Haberman with The New York Times normalized Trump’s Greenland proposal, saying: “This idea of acquiring Greenland for strategic purposes happened for decades” she said. “It never completely went away.” In fact, there has been no serious discussion of a US acquisition of Greenland since World War II (Pat Buchanan not included), although the US has a defense pact with Denmark. Haberman acknowledged that Trump “has an expansionist mindset,” but dismissed it his talk of annexing Canada as a “troll”. Asked if he was serious about using military force in Greenland or the Panama Canal, she said: “It caught a lot of people off guard. It’s not clear if that’s what he’s thinking or what he said.’
That’s a pretty big difference. Would it be better if it was “what he thinks” instead of “what he said?” Or vice versa?
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The occasional clever Republican consultant is Christine Solis Anderson rejected this idea. “What is Donald Trump doing? Major real estate deals. Branding – American Gulf. I mean, it’s just Donald Trump taking the same playbook he’s been running for decades and now trying to apply it to the US government again.
She continued, “If we really invade, if we really invade Greenland. Get me back on the show. Show me that clip of me saying “We’re not going to invade Greenland!” You can tell me I’m done. And you can tell me I’m a fool. We are not going to invade Greenland.’
Personally, I don’t think he’ll use military force to annex Greenland, but it’s starting again with major media figures insisting that Trump isn’t going to do what he says he’s going to do. allowing him to be a madman capable of almost anything. (I don’t know why I added almost.) There is some analysis of the 2024 election Americans just didn’t believe he was that crazy or dangerous because of this media “brainwashing”. Many such voters chose Trump or chose to stay home on Election Day.
In a way, I get it: Trump’s boasts and threats are so incessant and over-the-top that it’s tempting to pick them apart and declare some of them out of consideration. I don’t know how anyone could do that right now. With tech czars and media moguls bowing to the president-elect, we’re losing more so-called “guards” against his real crimes every day. Why rush to assure people that he doesn’t mean what he says?
