After tearing into media executives at a meeting on Monday and abruptly canceling a meeting with the New York Times via Twitter on Tuesday, President-elect Donald Trump is using yet another tool to strip the traditional news media of their power and relevance: social media.
Skipping the normal press conferences, televised addresses, or other conventional ways presidents talk to the people, Trump took to YouTube — just like he did in 2012 to demand President Obama cough up his papers — to pledge to make good on some campaign promises.
Trump also used Twitter to bypass the news media on Tuesday. The Times only learned Trump had bailed on their meeting plans when he announced the decision on Twitter. (He then uncanceled the meeting.)
Trump’s efforts to bypass media organizations and talk directly to the people has precedent. In the 19th century politicians on whistle-stop tours traveled by train to make their cases to constituents. In the 1930s and ’40s, Franklin Delano Roosevelt used a relatively new technology — the radio — for “fireside chats” with the American people.
While Obama also used YouTube, Twitter, Facebook and other social media tools, Trump is making them his main way of communicating with the public. He has used Twitter to lash out at the Times, the “crooked media,” and the cast of Hamilton, in ways the news media couldn’t dilute, edit or contextualize.
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President [elect] Trump is redefining the relationship of the Presidency and his Executive branch and news media. He is telling all of the MSM that he does not give a F$%K. He will control his narrative, not them, not the establishment. Heads are proverbially exploding all over the place, in the USA and the rest of the world. Trump is shaking it all up and seeing where the pieces may land.
This may undermine him during the next four years or may continue to transform government and its relationship to the establishment, the media and the people. Even if he fails to secure a second term and does not get all the things he wants done he will leave a new path with how the world looks and how the US Presidency will look.
I believe he will be a two term President as the population will want him to have as much time to “GET THINGS DONE!”
Other world leaders both friend and foe better sharpen up as Trump will be as unconventional as a President as he was a campaigner. No matter what he does though, seeing the elites of the elites basically all going coo coo for cocoa puffs is a joy we as the common folk do not get to see often.
As a Canuck I hope Trump has a good relationship with our PM but a part of me wants to see Trump help turn PM Sunnyways into a man and not an part time drama queen, err, teacher. For J.T. having his balls finally drop will be a good thing as his first year has been dreadful and I fear he needs to man up and see the real world and how it affects all of us, not seeing his pampered, prima donna world he lived in.
Seeing a real man in Washington may do PM Sunnyways some good.
What Trump has shown is that the traditional media is getting more and more insignificant. As for his dealing with Canada, I think Trudeau and his staff will be just as significant as the media in dealing with Trump unless he can get some old school Libs like John Turner to help out in negotiations with the Americans.
Case in point was one of his ministers leaving in tears when trade talks broke off between Canada and the Belgians in the EU deal. It was embarrassing, if she does this with the Americans we are toast.
Mark, the crying minister is a result of building a Cabinet based on affirmative action and not on merit. This is a possible fatal flaw of modern western society.
PM Sunnyways by making his Cabinet 50/50 male /female means that some or all position are not being filled by the best but by whether you have a penis or a vagina. But PM Sunnyways got this wrong too as the current Liberal caucus about 70% male and 30% female, so his Cabinet is over represented by females based on his mixed up ideals of affirmative action.
Government by any form of affirmative action will be a lesser quality of government. I don’t care what the mix is as long as each member of Cabinet is seen as the best possible for the position.
Mark, Trump doesn’t give two hoots about Canada in fact I don’t believe he has even mentioned the work “Canada” yet.
There will be no negotiating with the American’s period. They will tell us what we can expect and going to get and little tiny Canada won’t have much to say about it.
Barry,
He does care about Canada but less so than with Mexico. American (North American) energy independence will be high on Trump’s list. Canada is considered more or less a part of the US energy grid. Hence why he will approve the Keystone pipeline from Alberta to Texas.
Opening up NAFTA will have some mutual horse trading. Yes, the USA has the hammer though but it has to maintain relations with Canada and Mexico too.
In reality as much as we want the US to acknowledge us it is better at times if we are just quiet, peaceful and work well together. We are attached at the the hip literally and figuratively to the USA. How the USA goes Canada goes. I hope Trump is able to reinvigorate US idealism as we will by extension benefit from it. Remember that we can be smug and snooty to the USA at times but as hard nose as he USA can be there are 200+ other nations who if could would physically trade places with Canada.
Love it.
Barry there are some issues with softwood lumber and just recently American drywall and probably several others that have to be negotiated.
I don’t think Trump will have as many problems with Canada as Mexico since it is hard for an economy like the US to compete against bottom-barrel wages in Mexico.
Another issue might be the ease of which JT now allows people from Mexico to come into Canada which could mean if the southern US border is secured one easy way of entering the US illegally will be to come to Canada and then walk over to the US. Will be interesting to see what happens.
Les H. can always be counted on to post once, twice or several times on an article’s contents to defend Trump et al. I’ll grant that he’s provocative. But c’mon…Christia Freeland looked wimpy by shedding tears over the then-apparent demise of the Canada-Europe trade pact (it’s since been revived, but is still fragile). But Ms Freeland was not appointed to cabinet due to affirmative action. She had a long and distinguished career as a business journalist, covering trade and industry trends worldwide. She was way ahead of the curve in spotting income inequality as a growing political hot potato and wrote a best selling book on the topic. If half the cabinet appointments federally or provincially had similar backgrounds in their respective ministries, governments across this country would be far less beholden to the senior bureaucrats who get their way with no-nothing ministers.
Oops, I meant, know-nothing ministers.