The return of Donald Trump The American politics has not only reconfigured to the White House, but it has generated a deep change in the relationship between power and the press. What at other times was a dynamic of confrontation and scrutiny, today it seems to have been replaced by a docile media ecosystem, where incisive questions have given way to a series of carefully orchestrated praise.
The Trump administration has managed to impose a new informative control scheme: The journalists who can cover the president are now selected directly by the White House. This has transformed the press conference into a propaganda show where the questions do not look for answers, but reinforce the official narrative. In a recent episode in the Oval Office, while Vice President JD Vance attacked Volodimir Zelenski, Trump responded comfortably to questions that seemed rehearsed in advance.
THE PRESS: Validation tool counterweight
The transformation of the American media ecosystem did not occur overnight. Trump has cultivated a group of related media over the years, including Fox News, One America News (OAN) and Real America’s Voicewhere reporters act more as spokesmen of the regime than as independent journalists. The strategy has been effective: when choosing which means they have access to the president, The White House ensures that the questions asked of are soft and praiseturning the press into an amplifier of its political agenda instead of a critical counterweight.
On the other hand, the media that maintain their independence, such as Associated Press, have been marginalized from access to the White House, sometimes for absurd reasons. The consequence of this policy is an informative panorama where public opinion receives a filtered and sweetened version of reality, while investigative journalism is relegated to the margins.
This strategy has allowed Trump to dominate the political narrative without a real media opposition. It is not only a matter of restricting access, but of reconfiguring the very nature of presidential journalism. Instead of uncomfortable questions about corruption, foreign policy or internal problems, Trump receives questions designed to enlarge his figure and reinforce his speech. The free press, in its purest sense, seems to have been displaced by a docile and complacent version, which plays within the limits established by the White House.
The strategic silence of the Democrats
While Trump consolidates his power and reinforces his media machinery, The Democratic Party still does not find an effective response. His inability to articulate a solid discourse after electoral defeat has resulted in a dull and erratic opposition. The image of the Democratic Block in Trump’s last intervention before Congress is illustrative: Instead of facing it with forceful arguments, the congressmen opted for a symbolic gesture (Raise palettes with the word “false” every time the president issued a doubtful statement). A gesture that, although striking, lacks real impact.
The lack of leadership and cohesion in the opposition party allows Trump to rule with hardly any effective resistance. The absence of a clear strategy by the Democrats has turned their protests into mere acts of political performativity, without real consequences in public opinion or in the legislative agenda.
Instead of presenting a clear and convincing alternative, the Democrats seem trapped in an identity crisis, without being able to define whether their role is that of a combative opposition or that of a group that seeks to differentiate themselves without directly confronting. This political warmth not only strengthens Trump, but also leaves a vacuum in the public debatewhere critical voices are drowned by the omnipresence of media ruling.
Politics as a show
Trump has understood better than anyone than modern politics is, to a large extent, an extension of entertainment. His last intervention before Congress had all the elements of a reality show: from personal attacks to the delivery of spectacular awards and gestures for the audience. In one of the most striking moments, he surprised a teenager with an invitation to West Point in full transmission, turning what used to be a solemn ceremony into a dynamic of television contest.
This leadership style, based on theatricality and media impact, has proven to be a powerful tool. Trump not only dictates the political agenda, but controls the way he appears before the public. Each appearance of yours is a carefully calculated event to reinforce its image of strong and charismatic leader, leaving its adversaries without space to maneuver.
While the show continues, Trump’s machinery advances without real opposition. With a disoriented Democratic party and a domesticated press, the road is clear so that the president reinforces his control over the country without major setbacks. The question is whether American society will awaken in time to recover the spaces for debate and accountability that have been eroded in this new political era.
The immediate future of the United States is played in the ability of its institutions to resist the tendency towards the concentration of power in a single figure. If the press and political opposition fail to reconstitute as weight actors, the country could enter an authoritarian consolidation phase disguised as democratic normality. History has shown that the most dangerous regimes do not always arrive with coups, but with the progressive erosion of institutional counterweights and the resignation of their citizens.
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