We Need to Cover Donald Trump Differently This Time

I’ve been thinking a lot about mistakes I made in my coverage of the 2024 presidential election, writing last week how, for example, I at times allowed wishcasting to cloud my judgment. The point wasn’t mere hand-wringing but to do some accountability before moving forward. This week, I’m going even further back to mistakes covering Donald Trump’s first term in hopes of doing better this time around.

Let’s start with outrage. While outrage is an understandable reaction to a lot of what Trump does and says, it’s critical to differentiate between things that are more problematic in terms of substance than style. I would find myself shocked by Trump’s vulgar remarks about women, which are of course awful, but this behavior is a feature, not a bug, of Trumpism.

The MAGA crowd loves nothing more than owning the libs, and being offended by the rank misogyny coming from Trump and his allies can distract from the GOP’s assault on abortion rights and women’s health care—because you know killing Roe wasn’t the end of it—and the broader threat to democratic institutions, which barely made it through the first go-around. There is a terrifying feeling that the center may in fact not hold, which has to be the focus right now.

Elements of Trump’s agenda, like his administration’s coming war on “wokeness,” whether in the military or education, is bafflingly vague (though one could guess it’ll lead to less diversity). The lack of specificity works to Trump’s advantage, as his supporters can read attacks on wokeness however they want. Going to war on something that’s undefined, that is more a meme or rallying cry or coded language, is an easy way to get your side excited with little downside. One Trump voter told USA Today that everyone in his community “is happy to see the woke agenda ending.” A fake war is easily won and surely Trump will declare victory over wokeness when it suits him.

But what Trump says about the “woke” wars is less consequential than what he may do under the auspices of rooting out “wokeness,” such as drafting an executive order for a “warrior board” that’s given “the power to review three- and four-star officers and to recommend removals of any deemed unfit for leadership,” as The Wall Street Journal reported. Or tapping Pete Hegseth, a Fox News host who wrote a book deriding “woke” policies in the military, to lead the Defense Department despite his lack of experience, extreme views, and a past allegation of sexual misconduct (which he denies, saying the allegation came from a consensual encounter).

It’s also important not to get too distracted by congressional hearings that appear more about racking up clips for Fox News and X than providing any meaningful government oversight. I’ve written a lot on such hearings, because they can be funny and slightly sad, but in the end, achieve little—except, perhaps, distracting from more dangerous things happening off camera. You can imagine jacketless Jim Jordan, who we saw last year leading the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government, using such a perch to target any perceived enemies of Trump, including those who have tried to hold the president-elect accountable.

While Jordan, and others, make noise about “lawfare” and how Trump has been unfairly targeted by the justice system, the reality is that Trump has benefited more than anyone. Three of his Supreme Court appointees helped him derail a Justice Department trial for election subversion earlier this year by giving former presidents, such as him, broad immunity powers. Special prosecutor Jack Smith is now winding down Trump’s criminal cases as the former president (and convicted felon) can be expected to return to the White House with his most serious legal problems behind him.

The goal is to not swing at every pitch that Trump throws out. As Steve Bannon once explained to Michael Lewis, “The Democrats don’t matter. The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone with shit.” Trump is very good at this. During his last administration, there was a near-constant barrage of news. He’d tweet something that was completely insane or scary. He’d muse about buying Greenland. He’d say loving things about autocrats. But these developments can distract from the actually terrifying things Trump could accomplish in a second term. We in the media need to keep our powder dry for those eventualities, staying clear-eyed without sounding the alarms 24/7.

Will I be outraged? Obviously, Trump will do outrageous things. But in entering likely one of the most perilous moments for our democracy, we must focus on the assault on essential norms and institutions, because without them, we are lost.