Apr 15 2025

On The Attack

     Among the things President Trump has learned from his time in the public eye is a simple truth of combat: If you attack, your opponent must defend.

     It’s always better – in the short term, at least – to be on the attack than on defense. Keeping your adversary busy defending against your attacks reduces his resources and opportunities for attacking you. That gives you the initiative, which can be converted into other advantages as well.

     Apparently, Trump’s adversaries in the news media weren’t ready for him to seize the initiative:

     Donald Trump met with El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, in the Oval Office on Monday, and during their meeting, they took some questions from members of the press who were in attendance. The meeting was a huge win for El Salvador and the United States, but CNN didn’t fare so well.
     […]
     At some point during the meeting, Bukele praised Trump for lowering border crossing rates to 95% in just a few months, but Trump corrected him and said that as of Monday, the number is actually 99.1%. “Why doesn’t your media report this?” asked Bukele.
     Trump responded:

     Well they get out, but the fake news, you know, like CNN — CNN over here doesn’t want to put them out because they don’t like, they don’t like putting out good numbers… Because I think they hate our country, actually. But it’s a shame. You’re right. Isn’t that a great question? Why doesn’t the media, why don’t they put out numbers?

     CNN’s Dana Bash felt compelled to respond to the attack:

     I doubt the editors of CNN were pleased by that, nor should they have been.

     There’s an old story from the years when Lyndon Baines Johnson was still a Senator from Texas, and was locked in a neck-and-neck contest for his seat. It’s said that he told one of his publicity helpers to start a rumor that his opponent was known to fuck pigs. The staffer was nonplussed, and replied “We can’t prove he’s a pig fucker!” LBJ smiled and said, “I know that. I just want to hear him deny it!”

     In our time, political combat is no-holds-barred. It’s a pity that it should be so, but one must be realistic about the milieu and the conditions it imposes upon us.