"Trump, we're told, reads major newspapers in hard copy, toggles across cable networks throughout the day, marks up stories with a Sharpie, and calls Cabinet officials when front-page articles catch his attention. Aides understand that television appearances affect their standing. Lawmakers text him stories directly. Coverage prompts calls and scrutiny. Trump is described as a ravenous reader, a description that may be true, but also conveys discipline and command."
"The cumulative effect reads like a corrective to critics who portray him as distractible or impulsive. It brings to mind that old Saturday Night Live sketch in which Phil Hartman's genial, disengaged President Ronald Reagan revealed himself behind closed doors as a fluent master of intelligence briefings and global strategy. The joke worked because it inverted the caricature and replaced it with hidden mastery."
Donald Trump reads major newspapers in hard copy, toggles across cable networks throughout the day, marks up stories with a Sharpie, and calls Cabinet officials when front-page articles catch his attention. Aides understand that television appearances affect their standing, and lawmakers text him stories directly. Media coverage prompts calls, scrutiny, and influence over personnel and priorities. The description of Trump as a ravenous reader suggests discipline and command and counters portrayals of distractibility or impulsiveness. The portrait is built largely on admiring White House sources and resembles strategic placement that reframes saturation as vigilance and constant monitoring as executive rigor.
Read at www.mediaite.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]