The influencer administration

Summary

Post Reports: The Influencer Administration
The Washington Post
Released on March 19, 2025

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Overview

In this episode of Post Reports, hosts Martine Powers and Elahe Izadi delve into the Trump administration's transformative approach to media and communication. Titled "The Influencer Administration," the episode explores how the current White House leverages social media, influencers, and partisan outlets to control its narrative and diminish the influence of traditional media. Through expert interviews and insightful analysis, the episode sheds light on the implications of these strategies for American democracy.

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Key Discussions

1. Trump Administration's Social Media Strategy

   The episode opens with a discussion led by tech reporter Drew Harwell, who highlights the administration's shift from traditional press operations to a dynamic social media-centric approach. Selena Gomez (likely a pseudonym for a guest expert) explains:

   "They're using social media really aggressively. They are all offense all the time. Basically, they're flooding the zone. They want to be on social media. For every talking point, they want to be hammering home their talking points."
   [03:03]

   Gomez further elaborates on specific examples, such as the White House's use of ASMR videos to depict deportations and satirical content like the "Trump Gaza" video, which juxtaposes light-hearted ASMR elements with serious immigration enforcement visuals.

   "It's men standing on a tarmac with ICE agents... the weird jarring effect of this very kind of vibey ASMR video archetype mixed in with people being forced out of the country."
   [04:15]

   These tactics aim to engage audiences by blending viral internet formats with political messaging, thereby reaching a broader and more diverse online demographic.

2. Evolution of Presidential Communication

   The hosts discuss the evolution of presidential communication strategies, comparing the Trump administration's current methods to those of previous presidents. Gomez notes:

   "Trump has been pretty savvy in terms of how he's used the technology of the day to own the narrative... now that team is basically spinning that up for a new generation, a new presidency."
   [07:28]

   The administration's use of platforms like X (formerly Twitter) under Elon Musk's ownership allows them to disseminate messages rapidly and widely, bypassing traditional media gatekeepers.

3. Exclusion of Traditional Media Outlets

   A significant portion of the episode addresses the administration's contentious relationship with established media organizations. Colby Ikowicz explains the recent removal of the Associated Press (AP) from the White House press pool:

   "The Associated Press is a wire service... when Trump issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the Associated Press... said, we can't just unilaterally change the name... as a result, the White House said that the Associated Press would lose its spot in the press pool."
   [18:02]

   This move allows the White House to exert greater control over which media outlets receive direct access to presidential communications, favoring those aligned with its agenda.

4. Introduction of New Media Seats

   To replace traditional media representation, the administration has introduced new media seats for independent journalists, podcasters, and social media influencers. Caroline Levitt, the White House Press Secretary, introduces these new participants:

   "We welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House."
   [20:36]

   Guests such as John Ashbrook and Sage Steele exemplify this strategy, posing supportive questions and participating in positive photo opportunities with the president. This approach ensures that the press briefings are populated with voices that amplify the administration's messaging rather than challenge it.

5. Steve Bannon's Insights

   Longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon provides critical commentary on the administration's media tactics:

   "This is taking back control. This is the White House taking control. Right. And not allowing the mainstream media to set the agenda, which they've always done."
   [01:53]

   Bannon further describes the administration's media consumption as a "made for TV drama," emphasizing the theatrical and controlled nature of their communications.

   "The Trump show is mesmerizing."
   [13:06]

6. Impact on Democracy

   The episode concludes with a discussion on the broader implications of these media strategies for American democracy. Colby Ikowicz raises concerns about the erosion of the traditional press as a watchdog:

   "This effort to kind of undermine that sort of unofficial fourth pillar of democracy is sort of very much part and parcel of Trump trying to knock down any kind of opposition to his power."
   [28:30]

   Communications professor Renee Hobbs is cited, highlighting the administration's efforts to replace mainstream media with a partisan press that can shape reality more effectively in the digital age.

   "This is an effort to replace the mainstream press with a partisan press that will function as the new 'purveyors of reality'."
   [30:36]

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Notable Quotes

• Selena Gomez on Social Media Aggression:

  "They're mixing the viral Internet stuff you would see with political talking points..."
  [05:25]

• Steve Bannon on Media Control:

  "The Trump White House is a channel... generating first person, as you see it, content."
  [26:56]

• Colby Ikowicz on Democracy and Media:

  "This is an effort to replace the mainstream press with a partisan press that will function as the new 'purveyors of reality.'"
  [28:30]

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Conclusions

"The Influencer Administration" offers a comprehensive analysis of how the Trump administration has revolutionized its communication strategy by harnessing the power of social media and influencers. By sidestepping traditional media channels and fostering alliances with partisan outlets and content creators, the administration effectively controls its narrative and minimizes dissenting voices. This strategic shift not only redefines presidential communication but also poses significant challenges to the foundational pillars of American democracy, particularly the role of the press as an independent watchdog.

As the episode underscores, the fusion of political messaging with viral internet content represents a formidable evolution in governance and public discourse. The long-term implications of this trend warrant close scrutiny, especially concerning the balance between executive power and democratic accountability.

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Additional Information

For those interested in further exploring this topic, Post Reports recommends listening to related episodes and subscribing to The Washington Post for more in-depth journalism and analysis.

Transcript

[Colby Ikowicz]

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[Drew Harwell]

A couple of weeks after Donald Trump took office for the second time, the actress Selena Gomez posted a tearful video on Instagram.

[Colby Ikowicz]

I just wanted to say that I'm so sorry.

[Drew Harwell]

Gomez says she's sorry about Trump's new, harsher immigration policies, in particular that children are getting deported. Children. Now you can imagine a version of this story. During the first Trump administration, Trump may have shot off an angry tweet about the actress and the whole thing would have likely just been bad PR for the White House. But this time, the White House fired back with a highly coordinated response its own video. Seeing that video, it's hard to believe that it's actually genuine and real.

[Sarah Ellison]

Because she's an actress.

[Drew Harwell]

You don't know who you're crying for. Mothers of children killed by undocumented immigrants. Watch and criticize Gomez and praise Trump. They didn't cry for our daughters. No one has stood up except for us mothers to cry out about our children.

[Colby Ikowicz]

I am so happy that Trump won.

[Drew Harwell]

Selena Gomez took her post down. The second Trump White House has a new media team and a new, more aggressive communication strategy. Here's longtime Trump adviser Steve Bannon.

[Steve Bannon]

This is taking back control. This is the White House taking control. Right. And not allowing the mainstream media to set the agenda, which they've always done.

[Drew Harwell]

From the newsroom of the Washington Post, this is Post Reports. I'm Colby ICHOWITZ. It's Wednesday, March 19th. Today, how the White House is controlling its own narrative. I talk with my colleagues Sarah Ellison and Drew Harwell about how the administration is using social media and partisan outlets to stifle dissent. Some experts say they could even end up shaping how we understand reality. We start with tech reporter Drew Harwell. So, Drew, we already heard the Selena Gomez example. I'm hoping you can break down how the Trump administration is using social media differently this time. You've reported that they have basically turned the traditional White House press shop into an influencer shop using official government accounts. So what is this new social media philosophy?

[Selena Gomez]

They're using social media really aggressively. They are all offense all the time. Basically, they're flooding the zone. They want to be on social media. For every talking point, they want to be hammering home their talking points. And the idea is basically not just to kind of debate critics, but to drown them out. And so it's basically a continuation of these campaign tactics. During the campaign, they had these accounts that would fire back at critics that would post viral videos of Trump. And instead of the election being kind of the end of that campaign effort, they've made that a part of how they run the government. And so now when they get moments like this, Selena Gomez, they feel like they can turn to their social media operation and fight that narrative.

[Drew Harwell]

So, Drew, walk me through what that looks like.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, so, well, let me just send you a couple examples, and we could walk through them together and watch them together.

[Drew Harwell]

Oh, that'd be great.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah. Because they're kind of striking for how they play out. So the first one is this ASMR video, and I'll send it to you now.

[Drew Harwell]

Okay, so I'm looking at this now. It's really from the official White House account on X, and it says asmr, Illegal Alien Deportation Flight. Do you remind us what is asmr?

[Selena Gomez]

ASMR videos, you know, are known for being, like, meditative, very sound focused. It's supposed to give you this, like, tingling sensation. And yet, you know, as you can see from this video, it's men standing on a tarmac with ICE agents. They're being loaded onto this giant transport jet. And you hear, like the sound of the jet engines, and you see them laying out these handcuff chains and then, you know, kind of escorting these shackled men onto the back of a giant jet to be deported out of the country. And so it's just this weird jarring effect of this very kind of vibey ASMR video archetype mixed in with people being forced out of the country.

[Drew Harwell]

Yeah, it's kind of calming for my ears, but really hard to watch.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, yeah, exactly. They're kind of mixing the viral Internet stuff you would see with political talking points, and then, you know, in terms of just really, like, oddball stuff, there was this video that Trump shared himself on Truth Social about Trump Gaza. You know, the backdrop of all this is, of course, that Trump is saying he wants to turn the Gaza Strip into, like, basically a US controlled, you know, Riviera of the Middle East. It's this AI generated video, and it starts with the war torn Gaza Strip and it's in rubble. Donald is not meant to set you.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Free Bringing the light for all to see no more tunnels, no more Feet.

[Selena Gomez]

Into the new Trump, Gaza.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Trump, Gaza. Shining, bright, golden future, a brand new light.

[Drew Harwell]

Was that Elon Musk eating, like, nachos or something?

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, Elon Musk appears to be eating, like a Mediterranean bread bowl.

[Drew Harwell]

You've also got Trump and Benjamin Netanyahu without their shirts on, sipping some kind of cocktail on the beach.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, it's odd.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Trump, Gaza, number one.

[Selena Gomez]

The backdrop of this being that this was created as, like, a satirical video of people kind of making fun at the idea that this would be so easily turned around. It would be this, you know, this utopia.

[Drew Harwell]

And does Trump realize that this was supposed to be mocking him or he doesn't care and he's like, actually, I think that looks pretty great. So I'm gonna share it with all my followers on Truth Social.

[Selena Gomez]

I don't know. As with anything on the Internet, it just gets divorced from the initial context immediately. And once people share it as, like, a positive thing, it gains sort of a life of its own, as with everything. Like, it kind of flattens the very nuanced policy discussion into a meme. And it's pretty wild because people who agree with Trump were sharing it because they supported it. People who were outraged by it were also sharing it. And so it was gaining this viral traction just due to the outrage factor.

[Drew Harwell]

It's so interesting, Drew, because this seems to just be, like, an advancement of Trump's strategy from his, like, New York days, right? It's like, doesn't matter what kind of attention you're getting. Just get as much attention as possible, and it doesn't matter what you say as long as people are talking about it.

[Selena Gomez]

Totally, 100%. And, yeah, I mean, Trump has been pretty savvy in terms of how he's used the technology of the day to own the narrative. Right? Like, you know, back in New York in the 70s and 80s, it was all about TV, all about headlines. Being on the tablo from his first term, right? Even the campaign of his first presidency, he was all over Twitter. So now that team is basically spinning that up for a new generation, a new presidency.

[Drew Harwell]

I remember when President Obama was in office, he got some criticism for kind of bypassing traditional media and doing some kind of more virally type things, like Between Two Ferns, which was a satirical talk show on the Internet with comedian Zach Galifianakis.

[Selena Gomez]

Zachary, I'm your host, Zach Galifianakis, and my guest today is Barack Obama. President Barack Obama. Good to be with you, Zack. First question. In 2013, you pardoned the turkey. What do you have planned for 2014, we'll probably pardon another turkey. We do that at every Thanksgiving.

[Drew Harwell]

But this seems like a whole other level.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, I mean, Obama's strategy was ahead of its time, really. And it did get a lot of criticism because people were like, why are you wasting time on memes online of you, like, you know, skateboarding into the room? And there was an acknowledgement from his team and his supporters that, like, you know, not only is the Internet the place where a lot of our youngest voters and youngest supporters are spending their time, but it's increasingly where America is spending its time. And so if we're not players on the Internet, then people aren't going to be thinking of us. Fast forward to now where all of that is still true. Right. And even more so true now. I mean, the Internet is the political communications medium of our time. It's where we spend all our days, our, you know, our nights, our work, our play. And also, it's become a really important vessel to take down the other side. And you see, you know, Trump and his supporters, you know, across the country, but also in the White House, they're constantly hammering their viewpoints on the Internet and on places where they get a lot of support. Right. Places like X, formerly Twitter, now run by Elon Musk, where they can put it out and get a ton of eyeballs on what they're doing.

[Drew Harwell]

Do we have a sense what the reach of these videos are?

[Selena Gomez]

They get huge viewership. The ASMR video alone had more than 100 million views on X. And so for something that probably only takes a couple hours to pull together, that's about as good of advertising as the White House can get.

[Drew Harwell]

Yeah. And to your point, Drew, those 100 million views weren't just supporters. Those were also people, I'm sure, that were also critical of the video. But as we talked about earlier, the eyeballs are what they care about.

[Selena Gomez]

That's right.

[Drew Harwell]

So, big picture, Drew, what does this all add up to? What would you say, you know, is the evolution of official presidential communication now on social media?

[Selena Gomez]

What jumped out to me from this is that traditionally, you would have campaigns that would be these bulldog messengers that would just be putting out talking points all the time. And then the election would happen, and these institutional accounts like the White House would become much more middle of the road. Right? They'd be putting out messages that people of both sides would see and would be informed by. And there was much more of the government just kind of being for everyone. But now the government operation is becoming more of a political operation. And you're seeing that combative campaign spirit infect everything. So if you're an American and you want to follow what federal government is doing and you go to follow the White House's accounts on social media and it's all a bunch of political messaging, which it is now, something gets lost there because, you know, whoever is the party in power is going to potentially from now on be using these institutional accounts that we've all kind of turned to as kind of a second wave of campaigning.

[Drew Harwell]

Drew, thank you so much for walking us through this. It was great to have you on.

[Selena Gomez]

Yeah, thank you.

[Drew Harwell]

Drew Harwell covers tech for the Post. The Trump administration continued their messaging tactics this past weekend when the White House tweeted a video of men being readied for a deportation flight. It's set to the late 90s song Closing Time and it's captioned with the song lyrics, you don't have to go home, but you can't stay here. Closing Time.

[Colby Ikowicz]

You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here.

[Drew Harwell]

The band Semisonic blasted the use of their hit, saying it's a song about joy and possibilities and hope. And the White House had missed the point entirely. After the break, I talked to our colleague Sarah Ellison, who covers media and democracy for the Post. She shares some of her interview with Trump advisor Steve Bannon, who says it's helpful to think about the news from the White House right now as if it were a made for TV drama.

[Steve Bannon]

There's no compelling alternative to the Trump show. The Trump show is mesmerizing.

[Drew Harwell]

We'll be right back.

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[Drew Harwell]

Sarah Ellison we work together on the Democracy Team. You focus on media rhetoric and political messaging for the post. Thanks so much for joining me.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Well, thanks for having me.

[Drew Harwell]

We just heard from our colleague Drew Harwell about how the Trump White House is using its social media to advance its messaging. But now I want to talk with you about how it's using, or in many cases not using traditional media. So let's start really high level. How would you describe the White House's broader strategy?

[Colby Ikowicz]

So this White House and this administration is trying to take a much more combative and controlling approach to who covers them this time around. They have aggressively limited access to some traditional media outlets. They are punishing press outlets that they see as unfriendly. To get a sort of better sense of what the approach sort of the global Trump approach to the traditional media, I wanted to talk to Steve Bannon, who was a senior advisor in the first Trump White House and has now become an incredibly influential podcaster. He's the host of the War Room podcast and I talked to him about exactly how much has changed between this White House and this administration and the media and what was different about the first Trump White House and the way they interacted with the media back then.

[Steve Bannon]

We basically caved and allowed the media to set the tone and press avails in the Oval were hand to hand combat. We lost the ground game of the air war.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Bannon was very explicit. They sort of lost the battle last time. And what he sees as the advantage this time is you have two things. One, a White House that is unapologetic and unafraid to punish media outlets. And part of the reason why they're happy to do that is they have a whole new crop of other media outlets that they know are standing ready to spread their message, and they didn't have those the last time around. So these new media outlets are really key to this strategy.

[Drew Harwell]

So, Sarah, let's talk about how the Trump administration is doing that this time around. One major storyline from the first couple months of the Trump administration this time has been that the White House kicked the Associated Press out of the press pool. Can you walk me through what happened and why it's so significant that the Associated Press is no longer part of the pool?

[Colby Ikowicz]

Sure. The press pool is sort of this tradition that, you know, there's a representative from television, print, online, and those different outlets are representatives in the White House, and they report out to the rest of the press, and they share their notes and they share what they've seen in that day or that week. And that pool rotates every so often, and everyone sort of gets a turn in the pool. The Associated Press is a pretty significant part of that pool because the Associated Press is a wire service. And that means that news organizations around the world subscribe to the Associated Press and republish reports from the Associated Press. The Associated Press has lots and lots of other clients around the world that are relying on them to essentially relay news out of the United States and out of the White House. And so when Trump issued an executive order renaming the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of America, the Associated the Press, because it has those clients all around the world, said, we can't just unilaterally change the name to Gulf of America because that won't translate particularly well with all of our other worldwide clients. So they kept calling the Gulf of Mexico the Gulf of Mexico. And as a result of that, the White House said that the Associated Press would lose its spot in the press pool and could no longer cover some very specific events. One of the things that the White House has done is that now, now the President gets to decide, not the White House Correspondents association, exactly who is in the pool and who is not in the pool and who gets access to those kinds of meetings.

[Drew Harwell]

So the White House is deciding which reporters get to cover the president, travel with the president, who are they giving that access to?

[Colby Ikowicz]

There is now a prominent new media seat that The White House has opened up, and what they have been pretty clear about is that they think that it's time for From Fresh Blood to come into the press room. Caroline Levitt, the White House press secretary, she talks about them as, like, delivering news related content, who produce news related.

[Sarah Ellison]

Content and whose outlet is not already represented by one of the seats. In this room, we welcome independent journalists, podcasters, social media influencers, and content creators to apply for credentials to cover this White House.

[Colby Ikowicz]

And, you know, every day, Caroline Levitt introduces a new media person to sit in this new open seat.

[Sarah Ellison]

So in this seat today, we have the ruthless podcast they humbly started by entertaining small audiences on Capitol Hill. But after four years, this program has become one of the most influential podcasts in America.

[Colby Ikowicz]

You can often tell in their questions that they are there on a specific day to ask about exactly the program that the White House wants to feature on that day. So there's a pro Trump podcaster named.

[Sarah Ellison]

John Ashbrook and the man joining us today, John Ashbrook. So with that, I will take your questions. John, please kick us off.

[Steve Bannon]

Thank you very much.

[Selena Gomez]

You know, Caroline, in your first briefing, the media went after this administration for deporting illegal immigrants they claimed were not criminals. The question is, do you think they're out of touch with Americans demanding action on our border crisis?

[Sarah Ellison]

The media out of touch? I think the media certainly is out of touch, and I think that's proven by a number of things.

[Colby Ikowicz]

John Stoll, who is the head of News at X, which is owned by Elon Musk, asked about whether the White House was confident in its ability to go toe to toe with Vladimir Putin.

[Selena Gomez]

Go toe to toe with Vladimir. Well, if there's any. I'll take the second question first. If there's anybody in this world that can go toe to toe with Putin, that could go toe to toe with Xi, that could go toe to toe with Kim Jong Un, and we could keep going down the list. It's Donald J. Trump. He is the dealmaker in chief. There is no question.

[Colby Ikowicz]

And one day, she brought in Sage Steele.

[Sarah Ellison]

And in the seat today, we have a longtime national television broadcaster. I'm sure many of you recognized her when she came in. Sage Steele, who is now the host of an incredibly successful podcast, the Sage.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Steele show, on a former ESPN host who's been outspoken about her objection to having trans women and trans athletes compete in women's sports.

[Sarah Ellison]

So, Sage, why don't you kick us off on this very exciting day for women and girls across the country. Thank you for joining us.

[Colby Ikowicz]

It is exciting.

[Drew Harwell]

And, Caroline, thank you for welcoming people like me with a little bit of.

[Colby Ikowicz]

A different perspective, different background in this seat.

[Drew Harwell]

It really does mean a lot. Thank you.

[Colby Ikowicz]

On that day, Sage Steele showed up. She asked her question in the briefing room after a very generous introduction from Caroline Levitt. And then she showed up and stood behind the president when he was signing his executive order banning trans women in sports. So that was a situation where you would not normally see a kind of traditional journalist be both in the press room and as part of the photo op. Yeah, but this is also something. I've interviewed a couple of the people in those new media seats, and one of the things that some of them have said is that they're very transparent about their views, and they're very transparent with their audience about their support for Donald Trump or their support for a particular policy. And they see that as a strength rather than as a kind of ethical question, which is the way that, you know, a traditional media outlet would say, well, you need to be dispassionate. You can't have an opinion based on something that you're covering. That's very different from the posture that Sage Steele and other new media people are taking in this new press briefing room.

[Drew Harwell]

And it seems like, you know, if you have this seat for this new media person who, you know, is gonna ask a friendly question, that's one less accountability question at a White House press briefing from someone in, say, traditional media.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Yeah, I think it goes back to what Steve Bannon was saying, is that their experience the first time around was that they couldn't ever get their message out because. And what he said to me was, like, it was gonna be questions about Russia. It was gonna be questions about this investigation or that investigation.

[Steve Bannon]

All the broader questions would be, like, on the Russia hoax.

[Colby Ikowicz]

And it was vicious, and they never got to their message. Now they get their message, and their message gets amplified many, many times over by the people who are in the briefing room.

[Drew Harwell]

I'm really struck, Sarah, by, like, how this whole world of conservative media has, like, grown since Trump became a major political figure. And They've called the 2024 election the podcast election, because Trump won fans over by going on podcasts like the Joe Rogan Experience, which has, like, huge audiences, and now you have these podcasters in the White House covering him. I mean, how much of that was intentional versus this is just how media has evolved over time?

[Colby Ikowicz]

Well, both Bannon and other people that I've spoken to about this say that those four years when Donald Trump was Not in the White House were key to developing new media outlets that were supporting him when everyone else had abandoned him. Remember, there was this period of time when he was kicked off of all social media platforms. And so the White House now can basically operate like its own television channel, at least this is the way that Bannon phrased it. And it's boosted by a whole ecosystem of conservative media outlets that have very much developed a business model, political capital and huge, huge audiences around supporting Donald Trump.

[Steve Bannon]

The Trump White House is a channel. The Trump White House in politics is a dominant channel. Right. It just happens to have a bunch of sub distributors like War Room and Real America's Voice and Gateway Pundit and Breitbart and Newsmax and all these guys you never heard of and clips on the Joe Rogan show or, or Tim Dillon or all these guys who are not even Republicans. Right. But he's a channel with sub distributors. And that channel's generating first person, as you see it, content that just so with not just that larger than life personalities.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Bannon talks about a compelling cast of characters. And key in that cast, we have a new cast member in Elon Musk. And Bannon talked about how he was kind of a villain. He loves calling Musk a Bond villain.

[Steve Bannon]

And you have a Bond villain from a Marvel movie in Elon Musk, a guy that's wearing a ball cap to a thing meeting.

[Colby Ikowicz]

What Musk offers is this figure that young men really relate to and really love to watch.

[Steve Bannon]

Elon's around because everything Elon does is looked at by a certain demographic. They will at least check in on it. How many young men under 30 years old would ever watch two seconds of a cabinet meeting? Well, guess what? When you play the clips and you put it up, they're going to watch as much as Elon as they can watch. And then they'll stick around for some other. You come for the Elon's madness and you stay for the policy. Right.

[Drew Harwell]

Sarah, I'm thinking about what Drew told us earlier about Trump's social media strategy and what you and I are talking about when it comes to him kind of circumventing traditional media. And I know that you cover democracy and the media kind of together. And so I want to lean on your expertise a little bit. But I mean, what does this say about the status of our democracy that the Trump White House is kind of picking and choosing how its messaging kind of gets out to the world and that it's not going through the filter of a traditional journalist?

[Colby Ikowicz]

White Houses have always had friendly relationships with individual journalists and individual outlets. But the way that this model of messaging works, it's sort of a real shift in approach. And what it allows this White House to do is really supercharge the power of the bully pulpit. And already the president has a huge amount of messaging power. But with social media and with the kind of TikTok slicing and dicing and short videos and all offense all the time messaging, you're supercharging a president who already already has a very expansionist view of executive power. When I look at the way that this plays out, you see Congress really taking a major backseat. He's basically put a loyalty test in Congress. He's remade the judiciary to be more conservative, most notably in the Supreme Court. And even we think of ourselves in the press as sort of this outside check on the government. We call ourselves the fourth estate sometimes, which is a little bit high minded. But nevertheless, this effort to kind of undermine that sort of unofficial fourth pillar of democracy is sort of very much part and parcel of Trump trying to knock down any kind of opposition to his power. And I talked to some experts about this, and Renee Hobbs, who's a communications professor at the University of Rhode island, essentially said that this is an effort to replace the mainstream press with a partisan press that will function as the new quote purveyors of reality, that you could shape reality in a way that might not have been so effective before because the technology that you were using was slower and you didn't have quite as pliant a press.

[Drew Harwell]

Sarah, thanks so much for coming on.

[Colby Ikowicz]

Thanks for having me.

[Drew Harwell]

Sarah Ellison covers media and democracy for the Post. That's it for Post Reports. Thanks for listening. If you're looking for something else to listen to, there's a new season of our podcast, Try this. Hosted by my colleague Christina Quinn. It's about how to reclaim your focus when it feels like your devices are stealing your attention. This season, Christina learns why you feel so helpless when you scroll and offers real solutions for snapping out of it. If you subscribe to the Washington Post, all four episodes are available now. If not, you can listen to episode one today and get the next one next week. Today's show was produced by Laura Benshoff. It was mixed by Sam Baer. It was edited by Maggie Penman. Thank you to Alexis Fellow. I'm Colby Ikowicz. We'll be back tomorrow with more stories from the Washington Post. You listen because you know the power of good journalism and the Washington Post is there for you 24 7. When you become a Washington Post Washington Post subscriber, you get exclusive reporting you can't find anywhere else. You also get sharp advice, columns, delicious recipes, TV and music reviews and so much more. Right now, you can get all of that for just $4 every four weeks. That's for an entire year. After that, it's just $12 every four weeks. And you can cancel anytime. Add to your knowledge and discover all the Post has to offer. Go to washingtonpost.com subscribe. That's washingtonpost.com subscribe.