If we needed another example of how traditional news organizations in the United States report on President Trump’s unorthodox practice (with questionable legality) of governing via a digital network that he owns and profits from, we got it Wednesday morning when he called for the arrest of Brandon Johnson, the Chicago mayor, and JB Pritzker, the Illinois governor.
Both elected officials are Democrats, and Chicago is a sanctuary city.
Reuters released a wire story about three hours later. AP updated theirs almost four hours later.
The Chicago Tribune and The Guardian had the story at the top of their web site home pages by 1:30 pm Eastern when I checked, about six hours after the post. None of the following US outlets had the story on their website home page (mobile version):
- ABC News
- CNN
- NPR
- The Atlanta Journal Constitution
- The Detroit News
- The LA Times
- The New York Times
- The (Philly) Inquirer
These outlets featured the story, just not at the top:
- CBS News
- NBC News
- PBS
- The Washington Post
This is the President of the United States, claiming that elected representatives of a major (blue) state and city (Chicago is the nation’s third largest) should be thrown in jail.
Regardless of how many proclamations Trump makes that he later reverses or ignores (TACO), ignoring such authoritarian impulses normalizes them. Normalizing them leads to complacency, both by individuals and organizations. Do these media institutions truly believe they would be exempt from arm twisting should Trump elevate himself to dictator?
Then there is his profiting from conducting government affairs via a business where he has a $4 billion stake (via Dec. 2024 trust), Truth Social.
Presidents are exempt from many ethics rules but not the Foreign and Domestic Emoluments Clauses, which are “among the oldest federal anticorruption safeguards.”
The Constitution doesn’t say how to enforce the Emoluments Clauses, but robust enforcement wasn’t needed in the past because presidents and other high-level officials voluntarily complied. When in doubt, previous presidents sought official legal guidance — for example, when President Barack Obama asked whether he could accept the cash award accompanying his Nobel Peace Prize, and when President Ronald Reagan asked whether he could continue to receive the state pension he earned from his time as governor of California.
[…]
But the norm shattered completely when Trump came into office. During his first term, Trump kept control of hotels and other properties that did extensive business with foreign officials and governments, as well as state governments.
Now back in office, Trump’s business entanglements have expanded even further. In addition to hotels and other properties, the Trump family also launched new cryptocurrency ventures like the $TRUMP meme coin and World Liberty Financial trading platform, which have funneled hundreds of millions of dollars to the Trumps, including from buyers connected to foreign governments like the United Arab Emirates and China.
Trump is not profiting from the management of Truth Social. He’s profiting from its use as a de facto mouthpiece of the federal government. And unless he is maintaining copies of the posts he deletes, he is violating the Freedom of Information Act’s records requirements.
There are very few analyses or news reports about these ethical and legal issues, like this one from WFIR News Talk Radio:
President Donald Trump’s net worth has surged to $7.3 billion, a $3 billion increase from last year, according to a recent Forbes report. The financial windfall comes primarily from his crypto venture World Liberty Financial, a memecoin, and booming foreign real estate licensing deals — all while holding the nation’s highest office.
Our news media are compromised. Demand better. Switch your attention to outlets that highlight the federal government’s questionable and illegal behavior, not those that ignore it.
And keep your eyes on Chicago.
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Addendum: about 3-in-5 Americans (and 1-in-2 Republicans) “think the president should send armed troops only to face external threats, a sign of unease as President Donald Trump increasingly deploys National Guard troops to police American cities, a Reuters/Ipsos poll found.”
Known for gnawing at complex questions like a terrier with a bone. Digital evangelist, writer, teacher. Transplanted Southerner; teach newbies to ride motorcycles. @kegill (Twitter and Mastodon.social); wiredpen.com