TrumpWeek33: Big Media Caves
As Trump probes for weakness among his many perceived enemies, he's finding vulnerabilities and notching some startling wins.
In President Trump’s 33rd week in office, he got several things he wanted: A Federal Reserve interest rate cut, more control over the nation’s media, the flattery of foreign leaders and a few more brush strokes in the outline of a TikTok deal with China.
And when Trump wins, it’s a zero-sum game in which a lot of others inevitably lose.
The most benign event of the week may have been a quarter-point interest rate cut by the Federal Reserve, which Fed officials had telegraphed and investors fully expected. Trump has relentlessly pressured the Fed to slash interest rates by 3 percentage points or so, to juice an economy that appears to be slowing. That would be a radical move typically reserved for rare events such as a sudden crisis.
The Fed resisted Trump with a very modest rate cut that seems to be justified by a weakening job market. The central bank also signaled two more quarter-point cuts likely coming by the end of the year. So Trump is getting looser monetary policy, just a lot slower than he wants.
For now, Trump’s political pressure isn’t affecting crucially important monetary policy decisions. Trump is still keeping the pressure on, however. He asked the Supreme Court to let him fire Fed governor Lisa Cook, which would allow him to replace her with a loyalist more likely to vote for steep rate cuts.
Court rulings have so far blocked Trump from firing Cook, and Cook has sued Trump to keep her job. She has also rebutted Trump’s claim that she misled banks when taking loans for two vacation properties. Financial markets don’t seem particularly worried. The stock market hit new record highs after the Fed’s interest rate cut, and bond markets have been stable, with none of the selloffs that might occur if markets began to lose confidence in the Fed’s independence.
Trump is having more success gaining control over the big media companies that broadcast much of the news Americans see on TV. Trump allies howled after late night TV host Jimmy Kimmel made some touchy comments about martyred conservative activist Charlie Kirk on September 15. Kimmel’s network, ABC—owned by Disney—suspended his show. Kimmel is a regular Trump critic, and with his contract expiring next May, and there’s a good chance his show may be gone for good.
That’s not just one big company trying to stay out of the political fray. Before ABC took any action, Brendan Carr, chair of the Federal Communications Commission, suggested ABC should suspend Kimmel’s show and said on a right-wing podcast, “we can do this the easy way or the hard way.” That sounded like a federal official threatening to use government power to force a company to bend to the president’s wishes.
The FCC has regulatory power over broadcasters because it must approve licenses for TV and radio stations to use public airwaves. Carr seemed to be suggesting the FCC would punish Disney somehow if it didn’t axe a show the president found embarrassing. And it’s not an isolated event, but part of what seems to be a deliberate effort by Trump and his allies to strong-arm critical media outlets.
Over the summer, CBS parent Paramount canceled the show of Stephen Colbert, another Trump troller, once his contract expires next May. CBS also agreed to pay Trump $16 million to settle a lawsuit related to last year’s 60 Minutes interview with Trump’s presidential opponent, Kamala Harris. Paramount needed FCC approval for a merger with Skydance, which magically materialized right after it canceled Colbert’s show.
Skydance is run by David Ellison, son of Larry Ellison, the multibillionaire co-founder of Oracle and a vocal Trump supporter. In the New York Times on September 19, Media critic Michael Hirschorn called the Ellisons the new “overlords” of a media universe Trump is fashioning to his liking. Following its deal with Paramount, Skydance is also bidding for Warner Bros. Discovery, which would give it control of CNN. Trump has a love-hate relationship with CNN, where he courts favorable coverage but often fails to get it. He’d relish a chance to make CNN Trumpier.
Larry Ellison, meanwhile, is also one of the American investors poised to take an 80% stake in TikTok, if Trump can finalize a deal he says he’s close to making with Chinese President Xi Jinping. That is some next-level back-scratching between Ellison and Trump.
The question now is whether Trump will manage to sack late night hosts Seth Myers and Jimmy Fallon, who criticize Trump regularly on the third of the big networks, NBC. “The ratings challenged Jimmy Kimmel Show is CANCELLED,” Trump cooed on social media on September 18, following a visit to the United Kingdom, where the king and the prime minister feted him. “That leaves Jimmy and Seth, two total losers, on Fake News NBC. Do it NBC!!!”
Trump’s startling onslaught against the media isn’t a total romp. Over-the-air networks have been declining for decades as a share of the media landscape, and none of the late-night hosts rules like Johnny Carson or David Letterman did in their heydays. Newer online news organizations not regulated by the FCC may be less vulnerable to Trump’s machinations (and also less visible to the TV-obsessed president). And on September 19, a judge dismissed a lawsuit Trump filed against the New York Times.
But Trump’s ambitious cancellation project is notching some notable and alarming successes. If Trump were prudent, he might take the W against Big Media and draw the line when it comes to financial markets.