By Abe Greenwald
Thursday, April 24, 2025
For the past few years, whenever I tell someone what I do
for a living, they respond with something like “Well, there’s a lot to write
about these days” or the sarcastic version, “Too bad nothing interesting is
happening in politics at the moment.” What non-journalists don’t realize—nor
should they—is that there’s always something that needs writing about. And
whether or not Donald Trump is in the White House, you have to meet the demands
of your job.
What they also don’t realize is that the Trump carnival
can become, in its own way, more boring than pre-Trump politics. Because, when
you get down to it, there’s not much to engage with. Nothing is definitive,
everything is in motion, and the man at the center of it all is at once a
painfully known quantity and an impenetrable black box. We all know exactly how
he acts, but we never know what he really thinks.
That sounds intriguing at first. It becomes tedious,
however, once you realize that it doesn’t matter what he thinks—because he
changes his mind from moment to moment. So the black box is no longer much of a
mystery either. Its contents are ephemeral.
Yes, there’s perpetual upheaval. But, as I noted in an
earlier newsletter, that can become its own type of white noise. Tariffs one
day, no tariffs the next. Rage at Volodymyr one day, rage at Vladimir the next.
Threatening Iran one day, negotiating with Iran the next.
We’re watching a wall of screens, each running an endless
game of Pong. And in each game, Trump is playing against himself. First, he
acts, and then he reacts to the events that he alone set in motion. Trump
announces the coming of “Liberation Day” and then rails against “Panicans” for
the market crash he caused. He appoints Jerome Powell as chair of the Federal
Reserve and then attacks Powell as a “major loser” for not slashing interest
rates during the market chaos that Trump created. He sides with Russia
entirely, nearly severs ties with Ukraine, and then fumes at Vladimir Putin for
acting as if he can bomb Kyiv with impunity.
There’s something mind-numbing about tracking the moves
of a man with no concept of the world outside his head. Yesterday, Trump was
asked if he expected Ukraine to recognize Crimea as Russian territory. His
answer: "I just want to see the war end, I don’t care.” As if he—not
Ukraine or Russia—is the sole stakeholder with an interest in the war. This
morning, after a massive Russian barrage on Ukraine, Trump posted on Truth
Social: “I am not happy with the Russian strikes on KYIV. Not necessary, and
very bad timing. Vladimir, STOP! 5000 soldiers a week are dying. Lets get the
Peace Deal DONE!” That should finally do it.
There’s a famous Twilight Zone episode titled
“It’s a Good Life,” about a six-year-old boy named Anthony with godlike powers.
Anthony can use his mind to control or transform anyone who doesn’t approve of
bizarre, childish works. Trump thinks he can do the same merely by making a pronouncement
at a press conference or on social media. He can’t.
Ironically, as president of the United States, he really
is the most powerful man in the world. But he often uses the powers of the
presidency to enact confused policies. Then he rejects the response and relies
on wishful thinking to clean up the mess. In real life, that doesn’t work.
If Anthony couldn’t actually banish people into the
cornfield or turn a man into a jack-in-the-box, the show would be boring. It
gets tiresome to watch a kid play with imaginary abilities.
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