LOS ANGELES.–Since 78-year-old Donald Trump won the Nov. 5, 2024 presidential election in a virtual landslide, the U.S. media has been at war with him, much the same as it was in 2016, when he first beat former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. U.S. media put its prestige on the line in 2024 going all in on backing 60-year-old former Vice President Kamala Harris. What’s different this time around is the egregious, open and conspicuous way the U.S. press showed anti-Trump bias, with some 95% of media outlets reporting only negative news about Trump. Kamala was given an enormous advantage with the U.S. press backing her candidacy, routinely working with Kamala’s strategists to discredit Trump on a daily basis. But when the dust settled and people voted, they rebuked the media on Election Day voting for Trump, giving him a decisive victory on Election Day.
Three weeks into his presidency, the media is all out reporting fake news but, more importantly, everything negative about Trump. Time Magzine, as shell of its former self, put Trump on its cover as “Person of the Year,” much to the delight of the president. Trump’s old enough to recall when Time’s covers mean something, despite being watered down with the magazine barely getting any circulation. So, when Time put 53-year-old Elon Musk on its cover behind the Resolute Desk in the Oval Office, it was just another slap in the face to Trump, making a mockery of the U.S. press that now finds itself at war with Trump. Putting billionaire Tesla, SpaceX and X CEO Elon Musk is charge of Department of Government Efficiency [DOGE] set him as a media target, claiming he has no right to audit government departments replete with waste, fraud and mismanagement.
Musk announced his goal in DOGE was to save the U.S. government some $2 trillion in wasteful, duplicate and unnecessary jobs, costing U.S. taxpayers with no benefit to the government or to U.S. citizens. Putting Musk on the job was probably a mistake because he’s already so reviled in press for holding the dubious distinction as the world’s richest man with a net worth of $404 billion. Instead of making Musk the object of the media blitzkrieg and death threats, it would have been smarter for Musk to work behind the scenes. Democrats and the press have no problem when a media organization like CNN rifts hundreds of employees in an attempt to live within its means but when the government does it all hell breaks out. How dare anyone like Musk try to get the U.S. government to live within its means, instead of living on borrowed money.
With another fight over a Budget Resolution looming in March, there’s a growing prospect with current out-of-control spending that Democrat and Republican lawmakers could shut down the government until an acceptable deal can be reached. Today’s federal budget is $6.75 trillion with an annual income of $4.92 trillion, leaving a current deficit of $1.83 trilllion. No other institution in the world, except governments that control printing of cash, can function running massive deficits. Musk’s task was simple but unrealistic, to find a way to slash government spending to balance the U.S. budget. So, to retaliate against Trump, Time Magazine pictures Musk behind the President’s Resolute Desk, showing who’s really running the show. “Mr. President, do you have any reaction to the new Time cover that has Elon Musk sitting behind your Resolute Desk?” asked a White House reporter.
Time Magazine editors were slammed by fellow journalists for giving Trump “Person of the Year” cover, considered its greatest yearly honor. So, now the payback happens, when Trump is trying desperately three weeks into his presidency trying to find areas to cut so that he can cobble together with Congress a new Continuing Budget Resolution to keep the government from shutting down. No one in the press suggests any area where the government can stream line or find efficiencies to not run annual federal budget deficits. To make up the difference between expenses and revenue, Democrats want to tax the rich to pay for the profusion of fake government jobs that cost the government billions, leading to current deficits. Trump and Musk have shined a bright light on one $50 billion government agency, whose wasteful expenditures shocked the public.
Democrats and the press have done everything to exaggerate and prevaricate what the intent of DOGE, attempting to prevent, in the very near future, a government shutdown. Democrats and the press want to continue the waste, fraud, mismanagement and abuses to push for higher taxes on the rich. Trump played with media when they tried to get his goat, asking what he thought of the Time cover showing Musk behind his desk. Trump said he didn’t know whether Time “was still in business,” refusing to take the media’s bait to throw a public fit. “He’s got a staff that’s fantastic,” including the one staffer terminated for making untoward comments. Instead of the media commending Trump for trying to balance the out-of-control U.S. budget to prevent another government shutdown, they accused Musk and Trump of illegal activity, violating the Constitution.
About the Author
John M. Curtis writes politically neutral commentary analyzing spin in national and global news. He’s editor of OnlineColumnist.com and author of Dodging The Bullet and Operation Charisma.
