Opinion: The Media Built Trump. Now, He Does Not Need It.

The Spectacle We Fed

Trump’s return to the presidency and the  $7.85 billion-dollar valuation of his Truth Social platform proves one thing: we’re still addicted to the political spectacle he perfected. But, his dominance wasn’t inevitable.

It was enabled.

His rise was manufactured by the media monetizing outrage, by voters rewarding insult over intellect, and by institutions too fractured to offer meaningful resistance. Trump didn’t destroy civil discourse on his own. We applauded as he turned political rhetoric into viral theater. To restore meaning to political language, we must first confront how willingly we surrendered it in the name of entertainment.

The Media Gave Him the Mic

The media didn’t just cover Trump, they created him. His rise to political power was paved by years of saturated exposure, often orchestrated by tactful and calculated executives. Before he ever descended the golden escalator, Trump was already a made-for-TV persona thanks to Jeff Zucker, the NBC executive who cast him on The Apprentice. Zucker later became president of CNN, where his network helped turn Trump’s 2016 campaign into a recurring headline.

Reflecting on that period, Zucker admitted: “We recognized… there was a little bit of a phenomenon to Donald Trump… we did give him quite a bit of coverage.” The Seattle Times aptly put it: “Breaking news: standing by for Trump to speak” became CNN’s default setting.

At one point, CNN even aired a shot of Trump’s empty podium for over 30 minutes, while Hillary Clinton was delivering a national security speech across town. The moment captured a media machine so consumed by anticipation that it prioritized the possibility of Trump’s words over the substance of anyone else’s.

The numbers validated that instinct. According to a study conducted by The New York Times, Trump received nearly $2 billion worth of free media coverage during the 2016 election cycle, more than any other candidate, by far. The spectacle worked. His first Republican debate appearance alone drew over 24 million viewers, smashing primary debate records and confirming what networks had already sensed: Trump sold.

In the race for viewership, spectacle beat substance.

Trump’s provocations weren’t just tolerated, they were televised, clipped, and syndicated across every platform. News became entertainment, and the line between journalism and spectacle dissolved. The more inflammatory his remarks, the more airtime he commanded. This wasn’t incidental, it was systemic. Sensationalism wasn’t a byproduct of coverage; it was the strategy.

Thus, an unspoken alliance between provocation and profit formed, and boy did it deliver. Networks reaped clicks, ad dollars, and record-breaking engagement. What emerged was more than visibility, it was validation. And that validation didn’t just build a presidency, it built a platform.

Truth Social is not a break from that cycle. It’s the logical conclusion. A media ecosystem that rewarded chaos for years has now been bypassed by the chaos it helped create.

The Public Rewarded the Spectacle

Trump’s rhetoric didn’t succeed in spite of the public, rather it thrived because of the public. From campaign inception, voters responded not to policy proposals, but to performance. His rallies weren’t political forums; they were theatrical events. Audiences chanted, booed, and played their part. “Lock her up” wasn’t spontaneous, it was expected.

These moments weren’t accidental. They were rehearsed rituals designed to stoke anger and affirm allegiance. Strategically pausing his speeches to bait the crowd, to laugh at protestors, and to turn press risers into targets were effective. In turn, Trump seemingly discovered an unspoken truth: in modern politics, outrage isn't a liability, it's leverage. 

On Twitter, Trump’s inflammatory statements routinely topped the trending list. His critics quote-tweeted him, his supporters amplified him, and media outlets dissected him in real time. A 2018 MIT study found that false political news spreads faster on Twitter than truth, especially when it evokes emotion. Trump wasn’t just provoking reactions. He was optimizing for reach. 

He understood what few others did: in an outrage economy, engagement is the only metric that matters. The more unfiltered he became, the more “authentic” he seemed. Political discourse was gamified, where clicks became capital and retweets signaled legitimacy. Trump didn’t just play the game, he rewrote the rules.

By the time he launched Truth Social, he didn’t need networks or journalists to carry his message. The feedback loop had already done its job. He had the audience. He had the formula. All he needed was a platform of his own.

Truth, Sold Separately

Trump was never a businessman. He was never an aspiring politician. He was a product, built for mass consumption. And he sold, thanks to his perfect distributor, the media. They packaged him, promoted him, and cashed in. Now, with the $7.85 billion IPO of Truth Social, he’s cut out the middleman. No more gatekeepers. No more networks. Just Trump, broadcasting directly to millions on a platform he controls, fueled by the same spectacle that made him famous. It’s the final evolution of a media machine he didn’t build, but mastered. If we continue to reward outrage, amplify misinformation, and confuse virality for value, Truth Social won’t be the end. It’ll be the blueprint. And we’ll have no one to blame but ourselves.