Mixed Signals: Jen Psaki on her journey from politics to cable, what the Trump White House is doing right — and whether there was a Biden cover-up
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New York Post
3 hours ago
- New York Post
Michael Goodwin: Trump's unique talents make him a true leader – and have redefined what it means to be commander in chief
If you need a laugh, try to imagine Joe Biden or any recent president holding court in the way Donald Trump is doing it. To double the laugh, try to imagine any of the current presidential wannabes sitting in the big chair in the Oval Office. It's an impossible exercise because of how dramatically Trump is redefining what it means to be president of the United States. His talents are vast and uniquely suited to the role he has created. For the most recent and dramatic example, take Monday's historic meeting of European leaders about Russia's unrelenting invasion of Ukraine. It was the kind of key event that, had it been held under past presidents or vice presidents, would have been smothered in formalities and endless bland statements. Yet there was Trump, sitting behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, facing the heads of major allies, including Ukraine's Volodymyr Zelensky and the leaders of NATO and the EU. They were sitting in chairs, like so many students arrayed around their teacher. Skeptics miss the point The skeptics who scoff at Trump's gilding and redecorating of the Oval Office are missing the bigger and far more important aspect of what is happening there. No. 47 is the greatest impresario ever to hold the office, and he is bringing the presidency, its majesty and his quirks, into homes in America and around the world in ways that are as refreshing as they are unprecedented. Just as he remade the Republican Party into a diverse workers and middle-class party, Trump is creating new models and expectations for how presidents should conduct the public's business and carry out their duties. Start with the media. Including his first term but especially from the start of his second term, Trump has been the most accessible president ever. If there's a question he hasn't answered, it's because the question hasn't been asked. Because of how he lives out loud in front of the camera, never again will it be acceptable for a commander in chief to emerge from the Oval Office, read a canned speech from a teleprompter, take a few questions from pre-selected reporters, mumble incoherent answers, then shuffle off stage for a long nap. Enough about Biden, but Trump has expanded the presidential footprint and captured public attention in ways that will play a role in shaping the conduct of his successors. There is no way to turn back the clock, especially with the collapse of the media's credibility. Trump's way of speaking directly to the public curbs the power of partisan gatekeepers to distort the news and his views, which is why he does it. His broadcast of near-daily media availabilities, and a willingness to entertain loaded questions from people whose outlets have never had a good word to say about him, reflect an astonishing level of openness. It can be raw, as he moves from being angry to being gracious and cracking a joke within minutes. The effect is that, with his unparalleled bravado, a tireless work ethic and an instinct for hot takes, Trump is turning the White House into a giant television studio. And the programming isn't limited to media questions. Trump is also taking hugely important actions and explaining them in real time, allowing Americans everywhere to watch their president deliver on campaign promises, and explain why he is doing what's he doing. Taking back DC Last week, he used the cramped briefing room to reveal what he called 'a historic action to rescue our nation's capital from crime, bloodshed, bedlam and squalor and worse. This is Liberation Day in DC and we're going to take our capital back. We're taking it back.' The federalizing of policing and the influx of National Guard troops were hailed by frightened residents and the beleaguered police union, and of course denounced by Democrats and their media mouthpieces. A week later, the capital cleanup goes on, with some 500 arrests announced and nary an incident that would even remotely justify the scare-mongering predictions of a police-state roundup of the innocent. The upshot is that Dems and media outlets again made fools of themselves by defending an indefensible level of violent crime, and the people who commit it. It's a replay of how they denounced Trump for deporting violent illegal immigrants. For sheer drama, it will be practically impossible to top the two events related to Ukraine. Combined they form a two-part series about an issue of life and death and global importance. It was last February when the president and Vice President JD Vance teamed up for a heated argument in the Oval Office against Zelensky over American aid to help thwart the Russian invasion. Trump abruptly canceled a planned private meeting with Zelensky and booted him from the White House. Fast forward to the upbeat harmony of Monday, when he and seven European leaders came to craft a united front in the search for peace. It followed Trump's meeting last Friday with Russia's despot Vladimir Putin in Alaska. The president hoped for a cease-fire, and the attention he invited backfired when he came away empty-handed. Rosy view of Putin Putin's 'nyet' proves again that Trump, like former presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama, has too rosy a view of Putin. Face it: Putin's a monster who kills domestic dissenters and indiscriminately bombs foreign civilians, including women and children. Still, Trump should be commended for trying to salvage peace by advocating directly for a permanent end to the conflict. That idea underscored the Monday meeting, where the Europeans provided a showcase for Trump's skills and an upbeat coda to the February rupture with Zelensky. It also displayed how Putin's refusal to budge was catnip for Trump haters. Apparently many in the American media would rather see the war continue than see Trump get any credit for ending it. Fortunately, the leaders of Italy, France, Germany, Finland and the UK have a different view. They praised Trump's meeting with Putin as setting the stage for the next step and pushed for a detailed plan to help Ukraine's military, an effort being led by Secretary of State Marco Rubio. They are also hopeful that Zelensky and Putin can have their first direct meeting, and then one together with Trump. The key change is that Zelensky will get the NATO-like security guarantees he has demanded, including European troops to enforce any agreement with Putin. Trump, who smartly refuses to pledge American troops to foreign wars, said Tuesday on Fox that he's open to providing US air support for European forces. That's the proper answer for an America First president. It also happens to be the same role the US played in the successful takeout of Iran's nuclear facilities. In that historic mission, Israeli troops did the ground work as America delivered its unique bunker-buster bombs from high above. Hopefully, Putin will be smarter than the mullahs and end the war. But don't count on it.
Fox News
3 hours ago
- Fox News
Ex-Obama aide warns Democrats can't counter Trump because voters don't know what the party stands for
"Pod Save America" host Jon Lovett, who served as a speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, said Monday that voters don't know what the Democratic Party stands for — a problem he argued is preventing them from capitalizing on Donald Trump's vulnerabilities. Speaking with MSNBC host Nicolle Wallace on her podcast "The Best People," Lovett argued that the biggest challenge facing Democrats is defining what they stand for, and suggested that the primaries will not only shape the party's direction but also show voters what the party actually represents. "The debates that happen in the upcoming primaries will be, not just the way we figure out where we want to go, but the debate itself will be instructive to people watching it about what the Democratic Party stands for," Lovett said. "How do we figure out what we stand for." Lovett acknowledged former President Joe Biden's age and declining communication skills made matters worse, saying, "I didn't appreciate how much we paid for having the bully pulpit basically open and unmanaged because he was a poor communicator and getting worse all the time." "But it's not just Joe Biden. The American people have – were saying through this election, beyond it, that, yes, Joe Biden is too old. They worry he's not up for the job, but they have deeper questions about what the Democratic Party stands for. They just don't know," Lovett said. He noted that voters know that Democrats oppose Trump, but don't know what they support. He also blamed Trump for sucking up a lot of oxygen, which makes it difficult for Democrats to get their message out. The "Pod Save America" host also discussed Trump's strong connection with his base, but "Democrats just don't have that." He noted Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and NYC mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani do have an authentic connection with their base, but the party still needs to articulate their values clearly so they "don't lose people." Lovett and his "Pod Save America" co-hosts recently called out Hunter Biden for blaming Obama White House officials and other Democratic leaders for pushing his father out of the 2024 presidential race one year ago. The former president's son took aim at the "Pod Save America" hosts specifically, calling them "junior f---ing speechwriters" who have been cashing in on their association with former President Obama. The hosts responded during a July episode of their podcast and insisted Biden had no right to criticize. "You know, it must be just so hard for Hunter Biden to watch all these people dining out on somebody's name," Lovett said sarcastically. "Mostly it is three hours of Hunter playing the victim," co-host Tommy Vietor said of the interview. "And he rages at us, and he rages at [David] Axelrod and [George] Clooney, but the problem was the voters, and they never addressed that. The voters thought Joe Biden was too old."
CNN
4 hours ago
- CNN
White House joins TikTok after delaying enforcement of sale-or-ban law
The White House launched a TikTok account on Tuesday amid uncertainty about the app's future, as another deadline approaches for its parent company, Bytedance, to sell to a US buyer or be banned in the United States. President Donald Trump has repeatedly extended the deadline of a sale-or-ban law passed under former President Joe Biden's administration, with the new deadline less than a month away on September 17. The latest delay in June kept the app accessible for its 170 million American users, despite the legislation that passed last year with bipartisan support over concerns that TikTok's Chinese ownership poses a US national security risk. And it came as both the United States and China sought leverage in tense trade talks. TikTok's ultimate fate in the US remains unclear, but the official White House account is a signal the app could be here to stay. The first post on the official White House TikTok account features video of Trump as he says, 'Every day, I wake up determined to deliver a better life for the people all across this nation. I am your voice.' The post's caption reads, 'America we are BACK! What's up TikTok?' As of 8 p.m. on Tuesday, shortly after launching, the account had garnered more than 20,000 followers. This is the administration's first official TikTok account. Both Trump and Biden launched accounts during the 2024 presidential campaign, drawing scrutiny as the leaders had previously raised national security concerns with the app. TikTok doesn't operate in China, but the Chinese government enjoys significant leverage over businesses under its jurisdiction. The US government has said it's worried China could use its national security laws to access the significant amount of personal information that TikTok, like most social media applications, collects from its US users. The TikTok sale-or-ban law went into effect on January 19 after Biden signed it last year. TikTok briefly took itself offline, sparking outcry from creators, but quickly came back after Trump signed an order delaying the ban's enforcement by 75 days in one of the first acts of his second term. The president's June delay marked his third extension of the ban.
