Trump is not stupid
He is a media savant.
No one is better at generating earned media (aka free publicity.)
The midnight rants on X (aka Twitter) and elsewhere are designed to get the attention of the media as they start the business day.
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He aims to get the media to produce (free) content about him, and to a lesser extent a topic he wants them to cover. It may also be designed to shift attention away from a topic.
Some of the “midnight talk” is criticism of media outlets. This serves the dual purpose of influencing editors and publishers, and getting articles written about him.
He also frequently appears on Fox and other media outlets. Appearing on Joe Rogan’s podcast was probably the most effective earned media of this year’s campaign.
Trump also has realized that he is good for the bottom line of the big media outlets. Therefore, they love to cover him.
Trump has been quite transparent for sometime about how he intends to govern, and what his priorities are. His key appointments are not “crazy”, deliberately provocative, or a “loyalty test”. They are the key to how he wants to accomplish his goals.
His number one goal is to completely control the Department of Justice. Job one there is to punish his enemies, and reward his “friends.”
Given that is the goal, Matt Gaetz is the perfect appointee. Gaetz has no power or friends. He has legal issues hanging over his head. He would be completely dependent on Trump, and will do without complaint whatever Trump wants.
Trump’s second priority is complete control of the military. His appointee for Department of Defense, Pete Hegseth, is similar to Gaetz, although he appears to have more serious legal problems, and is not hated by nearly every member of Congress.
My point is that a lot of people misunderstand Trump’s actions, and fail to see their motives. Yes, he is crude, willfully ignorant about most topics, sexist, racist, humorless, and cares only about himself, but he is a master at manipulating people via the media.
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