Powerful US media could get Trump out

If there’s anything that US history will tell us, it is that the worst thing is for a president to fight the fourth estate head on. 

Thomas Jefferson, who was praised for being a champion of the free press, described newspapers as “polluted vehicles” of lies, saying, “Nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper.” Then there was Bill Clinton who excoriated the media for being “purveyors of hatred and division.”

But one of the most prominent examples of a president who thoroughly disliked the press – a sentiment that was certainly reciprocated by the latter – was Richard Nixon. After losing the race to Pat Brown for California governor in 1962, Nixon announced his retirement from politics and told the media – whom he accused of favoring his opponent – “You wont have Dick Nixon to kick around anymore!”

Nixon changed his mind and successfully ran for president, but his dislike for the establishment and his war against the media eventually became his undoing, with the Watergate scandal giving media the ammunition that resulted in Nixon’s resignation.

While he may not be the first one to show contempt for the press, Donald Trump is turning out to be the media’s most disliked president since Nixon, with the former engaged in a “suicidal war” (according to former Nixon White House counsel John Dean) against the press.

Trump’s war on media is escalating to unprecedented levels, with the US president using Twitter to fire back at his detractors. Things are certainly getting personal, with Trump describing a female morning show host as “low IQ” and saying she was “bleeding badly from a facelift” so he didn’t want to see her at the Mar-a-Lago estate during the New Year celebration.

In one of his tweets, Trump posted a manipulated video showing him at a WWE (World Wrestling Entertainment) match beating to a pulp a person whose head was replaced by a CNN logo, with the hashtags #FraudNewsCNN #FNN.

During his visit to Poland last week, Trump lambasted CNN again, calling it fake news and accusing it of covering him in a “very dishonest way.” He also labeled NBC “equally as bad,” reminding it that his show “The Apprentice” made the network a fortune.

The US media is definitely on attack mode, having found a potential “smoking gun” that could kick Trump out with Donald Jr.’s emails showing that during the campaign period for the US presidential elections, Junior met with a Kremlin-connected Russian lawyer who promised to give him information that would be useful to Donald and damaging to Hillary Clinton.

The Washington Post, whose reporters were largely credited for breaking the Watergate scandal, hinted of collusion: “The meeting suggests that some Trump aides were in the market to collect negative information that could be used against Clinton – at the same time that US government officials have concluded Russians were collecting such data.”

Moscow has denied knowledge of Junior’s meeting with the Russian lawyer and are maintaining that they did not interfere during the elections. Given the latest developments, the Trump camp will have difficulty convincing people that accusations of collusion are unfounded or that they are fake news perpetrated by holdovers of the previous administration.

The White House is definitely in disarray, what with controversies that seem to come one after another amid speculations that Trump might go on a firing spree – starting with special counsel Robert Mueller who was appointed after James Comey was fired as FBI director (supposedly for refusing to drop the investigation on former National Security adviser Michael Flynn’s ties to Russia).

At the rate things are going, many see Trump’s credibility as being shot to pieces, compounded by perceptions that he has “zero” significant achievements in the last six months of his term.

Even the international community is disappointed, as seen in the reactions of leaders like Angela Merkel, who decried Trump’s withdrawal from the Paris climate change agreement, at the same time expressing gratitude to the other 19 leaders who expressed support for the agreement during the recent G20 summit. French President Emmanuel Macron also took an obvious swipe at Trump when he referred to those who are “pushing against multilateralism” and are promoting “narrow-minded nationalism.”

While the White House is scrambling to distance Trump from the scandal involving Donald Junior, many are betting that when the dust finally settles, the US president may just lose out to the powerful US media.

Manila to be the venue of Forbes’ second ‘Under 30 Summit Asia’

Ricky Razon’s Solaire Resort and Casino will host  the second annual Forbes Under 30 Summit Asia this July 25, with some 250 young entrepreneurs and game changers from across Asia and the rest of the world coming together to exchange insights with industry leaders and share inspiring success stories.

The event will also recognize Forbes’ “30 Under 30 Asia” list of honorees (all under 30 years old) from 10 different categories who have been selected for challenging conventions and making an impact in the world today. Making a special guest appearance at the summit is boxing icon and Senator Manny Pacquiao who will share his inspiring story in an interview with Forbes editor Randall Lane, who said they were “thrilled to return our most dynamic franchise to Asia, the world’s most dynamic region. These are the people who will run every industry for the next 50 years.”

In addition to ICTSI as host sponsor, the Forbes summit is also supported by Weber Shandwick Philippines as corporate sponsor.

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