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Politico: How Trump’s campaign staffers tried to keep him off Twitter

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G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Link.

President Donald Trump’s former campaign staffers claim they cracked the code for tamping down his most inflammatory tweets, and they say the current West Wing staff would do well to take note.

The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.

"If candidate Trump was upset about unfair coverage, it was productive to show him that he was getting fair coverage from outlets that were persuadable," said former communications director Sam Nunberg. "The same media that our base digests and prefers is going to be the base for his support. I would assume the president would like see positive and preferential treatment from those outlets and that would help the operation overall."

The staff had one advantage as they aimed to manage candidate Trump’s media diet: He rarely reads anything online, instead preferring print newspapers — especially his go-to, The New York Times — and reading material his staff brought to his desk. Indeed, his media consumption habits were on full display during his roller-coaster news conference this past Thursday, when he continually remarked on what the media would write “tomorrow,” even as print outlets’ websites already had posted stories about his remarks.

The White House did not respond to repeated requests for comment.

Trump is also, however, a near-nonstop consumer of cable news, and his staff’s efforts were not always enough to keep Trump from tweeting on topics that were far from his campaign’s core message. Throughout the campaign, whatever messaging the candidate’s staff had planned was continually accompanied — and often overshadowed — by a string of feuds that played out both on and off Twitter.

But his team believed that their strategies would keep Trump from taking to his preferred social media outlet to escalate his personal or political conflicts.

For example, when Trump engaged in a Twitter war with the father of a slain Muslim U.S. soldier in Iraq, Khizr Khan, the team set up a meeting with Gold Star Mothers of Florida and made sure to plant the story in conservative media. Breitbart also wrote stories about Khan's relationships with the Democratic
Party. "We made sure that conservative media was aware of it, they connected the echo chamber," the former official said.
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"He saw there was activity so he didn't feel like he had to respond," the former campaign official said. "He sends out these tweets when he feels like people aren't responding enough for him."

The in-person touch is also important to keeping Trump from running too hot. One Trump associate said it’s important to show Trump deference and offer him praise and respect, as that will lead him to more often listen. And If Trump becomes obsessed with a grudge, aides need to try and change the subject, friends say. Leaving him alone for several hours can prove damaging, because he consumes too much television and gripes to people outside the White House.
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G

Gutek

Member
A national embarrassment. America should be ashamed of its leader and the people the did not vote against him.
 
T

thefro

Member
bananafactory said:
literally a child
Click to expand...

TigoIHl.jpg


The White House probably looks something like this
 
W

Wilsongt

Member
Aw... Does wittle donawd need his daily ego stroke to make him happy
Yes he does! Yes he does! Who's a good president?
 
IrishNinja

IrishNinja

Member
wow, that image of shitty-diaper babytrump yanking on the flag really was dead on, wasn't it?

i have an 11 lb jack russell/maltese mix who's agitated by nearly anything larger than himself, and he still sounds lower maintenance
 
A

Akuun

Looking for meaning in GAF
What a fucking child. Send him to his room without dinner.

Seriously though, I wonder if his staff will just say "fuck it" and leave him alone in the oval office. Maybe Trump will throw tantrums both on and offline for a few hours/days before he breaks down crying like the pathetic spoiled toddler that he is.
 
J

j_k_redtail

Member
If we ever go to war, we'll have to crowdsource his news intake in order to make sure he doesn't lose his mind and get us all killed. Could call it "twitch plays Donald Trump"
 
A

adj_noun

Member
The key to keeping Trump’s Twitter habit under control, according to six former campaign officials, is to ensure that his personal media consumption includes a steady stream of praise. And when no such praise was to be found, staff would turn to friendly outlets to drum some up — and make sure it made its way to Trump’s desk.
Click to expand...
giphy.gif
 
O

Oersted

Member
Baldwin playing Donald and voicing a character named Baby Boss is one of the most fitting things I saw in a while.
 
B

borghe

Loves the Greater Toronto Area
thefro said:
TigoIHl.jpg


The White House probably looks something like this
Click to expand...
HA! I GET THIS!!

Yeah, this is absolutely insane. Bush was a damn goofball... But genuinely seemed interested in making the wheels of the US' government running smoothly.

Trump literally seems to want to run the US like his company. Get as much profit from it as he can, be surrounded by people who kiss his ass, and be a dick to anyone he doesn't like to assert his dominance.

Trump is literally one of the worst possible individuals I've ever seen elected to a US office, and he's leading the most powerful country in the world. WTF...
 
E

Exile20

Member
Sounds exactly like what happened on the Apprentice.

After a few seasons the show was declining and his producers were telling him that but he would not listen and believed it was the number 1 show in the country. The producers give up and just agreed with him.
 
Y

Yekshemesh

Member
This explains why he had that rally in Florida. He constantly needs his ego stroked, desperately needs to be loved and adored. He's like the anti-Goku, instead of a spirit bomb filled with hope and love, his spirit bomb is filled anger, hate, and fear.
 
O

Ollie Pooch

In a perfect world, we'd all be homersexual
Familiar for people with a Cluster B in their lives. Horrifying that this guy is the president.
 
S

Stinkles

Clothed, sober, cooperative
GAF trumpers don't even bother defending him anymore. They just change the subject and argue about how something something is worse.

That essay last night about the Tourbus was astonishing. But that's exactly what I imagined tbh.
 
L

Loxley

Member
SoundsOfScience said:
"The failing New York Times... which I personally subscribe to and read daily"
Click to expand...

It's funny how much they say conservative outlets are important when we know the guy watches CNN more than any other network and favors reading the New York Times.

The man is a paradox in the weirdest, saddest way.
 
J

j_k_redtail

Member
Ollie Pooch said:
Familiar for people with a Cluster B in their lives. Horrifying that this guy is the president.
Click to expand...

This comment is too real.

Can I take a moment to say how amazed I am by the people who continue to insist that "both candidates were just as bad?" What a trainwreck. Would be interesting to watch if we weren't on this ride with the folks that voted for him.
 
B

BrutishMrFish

Member
thefro said:
TigoIHl.jpg


The White House probably looks something like this
Click to expand...

s2AEUIl.jpg


"We only wanted to introduce you to one of our very special citizens - President Donald J. Trump, age seventy, who now lives in a city called Washington, D.C.

And if by some strange chance you should run across him you had best give him good Tweets. Anything less than that is handled at your own risk.

Because if you do meet Donald you can be sure of one thing - you have entered the Twilight Zone."
 
C

Condom

Member
I wonder how campaign supervisors handled other candidates/presidents. Wasn't Clinton living in a bubble also?
 
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