bMore than the Super Bowl, Igagar insisted Donald Trump sitting in a large leather chair next to the big map. An announcement was made on the public address system afterwards. “Air Force 1 is currently located in international waters.” We have declared a flight crew The US President Jet “first in its history flying through the recently renamed US Gulf.”
Trump moaned as his aide applauded and pertussised. We're about “making America great again” right? That's what we care about. “He signed a declaration declaring “American Gulf Day” on February 9th, as the Air Force flew through what was previously known as the Gulf of Mexico.
It was classic Trump's showmanship From the highest perch in the world. He was also the latest salvo by the 47th President and his allies, reconstructing the cultural institutions in a way that controls language, influences media narratives, and compares them with other authoritarian regimes from history. .
A long-standing master of branding, Trump makes propaganda a core element of his Strongman President. This is almost a surprise to critics who view this as an extension of last year's election campaign, and to critics who sold him as a champion of forgotten people and a victim of the weaponized Justice Department.
Tara SetmayerCapitol Hill's former Republican communications director, said: Propaganda is the reason why Donald Trump will become president again, and because they know this, they are the reason why they undermine reporting, expertise and science. ”
Since taking office, Trump has surpassed his predecessors by signing 64 executive orders and 27 memos and declarations within a month. His electric shocks on immigration, trade and the federal bureaucracy were anticipated. However, the president's aggressive approach to reconstructing national identity through symbolism and language surprised his enemies.
When Trump used him First address Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton laughed, to assert his vision for US rule by pledging to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico to the US Gulf. However, the switch has an ominous edge.
This week, the White House banned the Associated Press, one of the world's biggest news outlets, as it has not changed its stylebook entry for the Gulf of Mexico's US Gulf (the AP has not recognized the new name). (We provide services to countries of Japan). Punitive measures prompted CNN Call “Newspeak” From George Orwell's novel 1984, language is a tool of control and can be narrowed down to limit thoughts.
Similarly, US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegses signed an order to restore the names of North Carolina Special Operations Forces. Fort Braggreversed Joe Biden's efforts in 2023 to remove a name that honored Confederate leaders (Hegseth recognises Roland Bragg, an obscure World War II veteran and changed this association to the past).
The White House is also redefine the terms to throw the enemy from a negative standpoint by calling fired federal employees “deep state activists.” The National Park Service has erased references to trans people on its Stonewall National Monument webpage.
As the AP discovered, the media has long been ridden from Trump as “fake news” and “the enemy of people” – has been subject to a system of reward and punishment. The Washington Post owners and major social media platforms such as Facebook and X had the best seats in the home at the inauguration ceremony.
At least 10 of the 18 reporters White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt requested during this week's briefing during work for the partisan right-wing outlet. Pentagon officials have decided to “spin” eight major news outlets from their workspace and replace them with more card-friendly media, We invited far-right activistsJack Posobiec and Hegseth will be taking part in overseas trips.
Additionally, Trump pursues lawsuits against media outlets by circumventing the first amendment protections established using novel legal theories. Meanwhile, his allies use the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) targeting broadcast news networks where content appears to be at a disadvantage.
There are concerns that intimidating tactics are working. Set Meyer currently leading Seneca ProjectThe Women-led Hyperpolitical Action Committee stated: “The mainstream American media has failed. What's happening is not a normal transition. It is a constitutional crisis. That should be covered by the American media, and they are not.
“They are analyzing the words. They are whitewashing and washing what Elon Musk was doing, what Donald Trump is telegraphing. They are business-wise to follow beforehand. “It's not a coincidence that Trump chases FCC licenses and pleads his knees to him by sue these media conglomerates, so we don't honestly cover him.”
Trump has also made a surprising foray into arts and culture with the hostile takeover of the John F. Kennedy Center for Performing Arts Center in Washington. This is the living monument to the 35th President, who holds classical music and dance on a budget of $268 million last year. , hip hop, opera, theater, tour production, educational art programming.
Trump set up himself as chairman, building up the board with his loyalty and replacing President Deborah Rutter with former acting director of national intelligence, Rick Grenell.
“We know the importance of art in telling stories, maintaining truth and being part of resistance, so like other fascists in history, Trump comes for art. It's not a coincidence,” Setsmeyer said.
The president admitted he had never been to the Kennedy Center, but felt that overhauls were needed for drug shows and other “anti-American propaganda” that were “targeted at our youth.” He told reporters: I'm not awake in this country anymore. ” In response, several stars dissociated from the center.
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at the same time, National Fund for the ArtsThe largest national funder for arts education with a budget of $207 million in 2024 canceled grants aimed at marginalized groups, and grant recipients said, “Diversity, Equity, Equity.” I have posted the latest guidelines that we should not run programs that promote sex and inclusion (dei) '” or 'using federal funds to promote gender ideology'.
The change has encouraged concerns about the politicization of art, with critics pointing to examples of artists who suppressed and censored the examples of dictators of history.
Olivia Troya former adviser to then-Vice President Mike Pence said: He then took over the Kennedy Center. Because it was a sign that he wanted full control over all the stories.. ”
Trump has shown an authoritarian streak and is trying to curb opposition, Troy added: People need to pay attention to these types of things. ”
“They may seem frivolous. Why do you care about what he did to the Kennedy Center? Well, let's take a look at history. Who has done it as president? Why he? Is it doing that? It's all part of a comprehensive effort by this individual who wants to control all the stories out there.”
Like authoritarians of the past, Trump understands the power of symbols such as Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. This carves the faces of former President George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida Proposed law He added Trump to the monument, saying, “President Trump's bold leadership and unwavering dedication to American greatness solidified his position in history.”
Trump issued an order to revive “National Gardens of American Heroes.” This is an attempt to curate a version of history that reinforces the idea of national exceptionalism. Representative Buddy Carter Georgia has introduced a bill as Trump renamed Greenland “red, white, blue.” You are trying to acquire the territory of the island.
Trump is also seeking “patriotic education,” trying to control what is being taught in schools and instill a conservative vision. The administration is pushing to limit what teachers can teach about gender and race, and threatens to withhold funds from schools that don't follow.
In particular, the 47th president controls the nation's attention, filling the news cycle and social media 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Last Sunday, he became the first sitting US president to attend the Super Bowl, the Crown Jewel of the US Sports, with 127 million viewers and “Caesarean section airAccording to New York Times critic James Poniozik.
There was a saturation afterwards when Trump hosted Ally Elon Musk and his son X in his oval office. Stephen Chong, Director of White House Communications I tweeted the image Of the eight news networks, they broadcast conferences simultaneously and boasted of the “full spectrum advantage.”
Reed GallenThe union president, a coalition of democracy, said: The idea of propaganda is not necessarily to lie about things, but to focus your attention on where you want it, and he is the master of it. ”
Ruth Bengiatt, professor of history and Italian research at New York University Strongman: Mussolini todayTrump describes it as “one of the most successful propaganda of all history.” This explains Italian dictator Benito Mussolini as skilled in his use of images, symbols and repetitive use.
She said: It's not just the old-fashioned dictatorship of North Korea today, or communist China, where the leadership is everywhere.
“Today, India's Modi is the world's most follower leader. He is an Instagram genius. When he took office in 2014, he was able to use holograms and be in 100 places at the same time. What's inevitable everywhere is part of making the population dependent on you and anyone else.”
