From the moment late in 2016 when Hillary Clinton’s formless, themeless, listless campaign handed the White House to Donald Trump (assisted by Comrade Putin), Democrats have been counting on the reckless, heedless, careless novice to return the favor. Rather than melt down, though, President Trump is gaining strength.Trump trolls the legacy media like a trophy angler pulling in marlin. Reporters and pundits are constitutionally unable to resist taking his intentionally outrageous Twitter-driven bait.
After a rocky start, the president has cut himself loose from the highly unpopular Congress to create a clear account of his unusual reign, which he repeats with unflagging discipline. He’s a rulebreaker who gets results, and the enemies of change are conspiring to stop him. This is a polarizing message, indeed. But Trump appears to understand that popularity and unpopularity aren’t necessarily opposites.
The president has set the bar for himself so low that if November comes and he hasn’t been frog-marched from the Oval Office in handcuffs, and hasn’t rendered the Earth a glowing nuclear ember, a sizable number of Americans will judge him a success. Why? It’s the economy, stupid. Politics, like comedy, is all about timing, and Trump’s has been exquisite.
Consequently he dominates all of the media nearly all the time - those which approve of him, and those which don't. He's the biggest spotlight glutton on the planet, a genius at getting attention.
Prediction: Looking back, historians will say Trump was a more accomplished showman than Ronald Reagan, and he did it without Mike Deaver's help.
