Trump has suddenly calmed down, and that could help his agenda

Fresh off his decisive victory presidential electionTrump has once again become a cultural force of power, prestige, wealth and comedy. Status as a cultural icon filtered It has evolved into professional and collegiate sports, where numerous athletes, especially football players, have turned to imitating the famous “YMCA” dance while celebrating goals and other great plays.

The political and cultural capital Trump has today is unlike anything he had in his first two races for office or even his first four years in office. His third campaign for the White House gave him a broad mandate that included a popular vote victory that has largely eluded Republican candidates in the 21st century. And perhaps a new CBS-YouGov questionnaire It found that approval of Trump’s passage approached 60 percent, while satisfaction with his election victory was just under 55 percent.

For the first time in his political career, Trump has the goodwill and support of the majority of the public. As his transition continues and Inauguration Day approaches, this will give his new administration the opportunity to communicate and connect with the public who want to see him succeed.

A ‘cool’ and popular president

In 2016 and 2020, and possibly until he won the presidency earlier this month, the idea that it was socially acceptable to support Trump was tenuous at best. Democratic candidates, their supporters and surrogates have sought to portray the Republican Party leader as the standard-bearer of the new fascism, positioning him as the ideological and cultural heir of the worst dictators of the 20th century.

If the results of the 2024 election say anything, it’s this: Trump is more popular than ever, and the majority of people now believe in his political cause. This is a clear rejection of the anti-Trumpism that has persisted for the last eight years and, above all, has elevated Trump into a cultural as well as political icon. It’s awesome to dance like him, it’s awesome to watch UFC fights like him, and it’s awesome to gawk at Elon Musk and SpaceX rockets like him.

But this change did not happen in a vacuum. Trump won with every segment of the electorate in his big victory in 2024. And there’s an argument to be made that this wouldn’t have happened if it hadn’t adapted to the realities of the new media environment.

A new media environment

When Trump first ran for president in 2016, social media was on the rise, but cable news was still king. Throughout the entire campaign, whether during the primary or the general election, it was nearly impossible for Trump to go a day without appearing on a cable talk show to talk about his campaign or his opponents. At the same time, Trump has turned his Twitter account into a must-follow feed. Every post he made on the platform was fodder for cable news pundits, driving news cycle after news cycle.

During his presidency, Trump used his account as a platform for policymaking and politicking. One moment he was endorsing his preferred candidates, the next he was threatening North Korea. For Trump, this allowed him to speak publicly without going through the filter of a press release written by his staff or needing to schedule a press conference. As a result, each post became a story in itself, generating high engagement across cable news and print newspapers.

But the media landscape has changed in the four years since then. The public is increasingly less interested in traditional media and is embracing long-form debates and interviews hosted by good-natured podcast hosts who eschew the typically adversarial style of most cable news interviews.

The most listened-to media source is a podcast hosted by Joe Rogan, a bald MMA announcer and former reality TV host, who sits in his studio for three to four hours with guests from all walks of life talking about everything from immigration to UFOs to smoking pot. . It’s a popular podcast because listeners trust Rogan to thoughtfully engage with his guests in a way that’s fun, interesting, and personal in a way that interviews can never be.

Trump’s presidential campaign, which he won with the help of Barron Trump, cleverly established the reach podcasts could have. It has eschewed traditional media in favor of very long-form podcasts, whose followings far exceed those of cable news and traditional news outlets. Trump’s interview with Rogan in the final weeks of the campaign has been viewed more than 50 million times on YouTube to date, his appearance with comedian Theo Von has been viewed more than 15 million times, and his appearance with Andrew Schulz has been viewed more than 8 million times.

Podcast management

If Trump is to have a successful presidency that is viewed by the public as successful, his administration needs to follow the model laid out by the campaign and pursue a media and public relations strategy that rewrites the book on White House and administration communications. While this doesn’t mean ignoring legacy press or abandoning the regular White House press briefings, it does mean that the administration should pursue a parallel strategy to ensure that the people it reaches through podcasts still hear about what the administration is doing.

One of Trump’s first appointments to his administration were Elon Musk, the world’s richest man, and his one-time rival Vivek Ramaswamy, co-chairs of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). the federal government and cutting excessive and unnecessary spending. But before they began their work on January 20, the two men announced that they would launch the new project. DogecastA podcast designed to inform the public about their work.

The rest of the Trump administration-in-waiting should take note. Long-form podcasts have become a powerful tool for people to build trust with someone they may never meet. By launching a podcast together, Ramaswamy and Musk will have the opportunity to involve the public in the government budget review process, helping people feel a part of it. This is a model that could easily be emulated across government. The administration could even launch its own podcast, featuring a good speaker like Ramaswamy interviewing a rotating cast of guests including Trump, Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, Cabinet secretaries and other White House officials. management’s work and goals.

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One of the reasons President Franklin Delano Roosevelt won four consecutive terms was because he could connect with people on their terms. His famous fireside chats spoke directly to people in their homes, allowing him to talk to them in an unfiltered medium about what his government was doing, responding to any criticism leveled against him, and making people feel like he was working for them.

Today Trump won a big victory and is more popular than ever. But if his administration is to be publicly successful, he must ensure that popularity is not wasted and that the public can see the change they voted for. This means Trump and his administration must adopt a public relations strategy that meets people where they are and avoids the filter of legacy news sources like CNN, NBC, CBS and ABC. Otherwise, he will leave office in January 2029, plagued by the same unpopularity that has affected so many men who have occupied the office of president of the United States.