August 11, 2025
Trump Hijacks News Cycles
By Douglas Schwartz
While Congress vacations, Trump dominates the media spotlight.
August 1 began this administration’s second full six months. August 31 marks Iran’s deadline for abandoning its nuclear ambitions. In between those dates, tariffs are pouring in, Ukrainian peace is on the front burner, sowing division within BRICS proceeds nicely, 80-year-old Marshall Plan policies are being dismantled, and Nixon’s opening to China is being reversed. Then comes September, when Congress returns. Among August’s consequential developments and proposals are the first negative net immigration in decades, exclusion of illegal aliens from census counts to permanently cripple Democrats, and targeting Venezuela for regime change.
These were the Dow Jones August 1 top news feed headlines:
Trump Orders Firing of Bureau of Labor Statistics Chief
Trump Administration Blocks Funding for CDC Health Programs
Trump Positions Nuclear Submarines Following Threats From Former Russian Leader
Nonprofit Funding PBS and NPR Stations to Shut Down Next Month
Labor Department Skirts Senators’ Questions on Inflation Data
Manhunt Under Way After Four Killed at Montana Bar
Ukraine’s Supporters Plan New NATO Fund to Buy U.S. Weapons
Under the Rubble in Kyiv, a Rising Death Toll From a Russian Strike
Former Colombian President Is Sentenced to House Arrest in Witness-Tampering-Case
U.S. Envoy Steve Witkoff Visits Gaza as Trump, Under Pressure, Seeks Aid Plan
Climate Skeptics Are Tapped by Trump Administration to Justify Regulatory Rollback
In a Country Trump Says Nobody’s Heard Of, Tariffs Bring Chaos
Trump Should Get Nobel Peace Prize for Brokering Cease-Fire Deal, Cambodian PM
Contrary to Autopen’s underground presidency, Trump dominated most of the list above. He controls events; events don’t control him. By August 1, through force of will, he had remade the world in 193 days, 13% into this term. Number twelve, the nation nobody’s heard of, is Lesotho. Number two relates to OMB director Russ Vought’s bipartisan wrestling with Congress. Vought asserts that congressional appropriations represent spending ceilings, not floors. He intends to make deeper spending cuts, ultimately subject to judicial resolution.
The strategic intent behind commandeering news cycles entails seizing the high ground from domestic opponents in both parties. Opponents playing defense can’t prosecute offense. Trump leaves foes gasping for the little remaining oxygen remaining in the room. He assigns congressional Republicans to investigate Democrats, keeping them out of trouble and both factions from interrupting his schedule. It’s not just the magnitude of items his administration simultaneously juggles, but the volume. It wouldn’t be surprising if leading Cabinet members are graded on their ability to meet daily sound bite quotas.
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https://www.americanthinker.com/articles/2025/08/trump_hijacks_news_cycles.html
