特朗普의 43분: 강자 서사 통제 불능, 미디어 전쟁 격화

Original Title: A16Z's Global Mission

Original Author: a16z

Original Translation Compiled by: Peggy

Editor's Note: This article documents the entire process of Trump's re-emergence in public after disappearing for over a week. Facing questions about his health, military actions in Iran, and cracks within his party, he originally needed this appearance to reassert control. However, the speech continuously deviated from core issues: from the renovation of the National Mall's reflecting pool, to comparing the size of his crowd with Martin Luther King Jr.'s rally, to attacks on reporters, Democrats, and several American cities. The 43-minute press conference gradually devolved into a political performance filled with resentment and insecurity.

The article focuses on two levels. First, it exposes Trump's personal state and governing style. Through his humiliation of reporters, attacks on cities and political opponents, and the details of abruptly ending the event followed by staff quickly clearing the room, the author portrays a president who is out of control, irritable, and highly defensive. Second, it discusses the institutional changes revolving around Trump. It mentions that an executive order he signed would weaken job protections for senior federal employees, allowing more experienced civil servants to be replaced due to political stance or disobedience. This indicates that professional judgment and institutional constraints within the government are being squeezed by a stronger logic of personal loyalty.

The latter part of the article extends the discussion to the media. The author believes that Trump's attack on a CNN reporter, along with the crisis of editorial independence within mainstream outlets like CBS, shows that American news organizations are under dual pressure from political power and commercial interests. When mainstream media begin to compromise with power, independent journalists and creators become crucial in maintaining public facts. This is why the author repeatedly calls for supporting independent media.

This article has a strong tone, with clear political stance and mobilizing sentiment, but the questions it raises are realistic: When power constantly attacks journalists, weakens the civil service system, rewards loyalty, and punishes dissent, can the public still obtain sufficiently reliable information? When the commercial interests of media organizations intertwine with political pressure, how long can journalistic independence last? Trump's appearance provides a window of observation, reflecting the deepening institutional tensions in American politics: the expansion of personal power, loss of media trust, pressure on the civil service system, and the continuous shrinking of public factual space.

Following is the original text:

At 3:50 PM today, the President of the United States suddenly reappeared in public after disappearing from the public eye for over a week. He had not attended any public events since going to Walter Reed Medical Center. Now, with bad news accumulating and questions about his deteriorating health growing louder, Donald Trump had to show up. For 43 minutes, Trump and his supporters tried to project the image of a strong, in-control leader. But the world saw a paranoid man: he praised an authoritarian leader as "my friend, a good man"; attacked a reporter as "a young, beautiful woman who never smiles," saying she "has hatred in her eyes"; while desperately maintaining the illusion that everything is under control.

It all began with Trump's current favorite project: photos of the reflecting pool. Before signing any documents or answering any questions, the president spent several minutes talking about the reflecting pool on the National Mall. He described its length, had staff bring pictures, and compared it to some of the world's tallest buildings. He talked about the Empire State Building, the World Trade Center, and the Sears Tower, as if a flat pool of water could stand upright like a skyscraper. He told the cameras the pool would turn "American flag blue" and boasted about how many truckloads of garbage had been removed from it. This person, who had disappeared from public view for over a week, chose to talk about a pool first when reappearing – not his absence, not his health, not the crises facing the country.

Then, his rambling turned to the truly nauseating and most telling part. He began describing the location where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered one of the most important speeches in modern American history, and used it to claim that his own rally crowds were larger than King's. "They say he had a million people, and I only had 25,000," he said, then insisted that if you put the two pictures side by side, "I have more people. They're denser. My people are denser."

For Trump, everything is a competition because everything stems from insecurity. Facing the reflecting pool – where Dr. King once spoke of justice, equality, and the unfulfilled promise of American democracy – Trump's first thought was crowd size. Not the speech, not the movement, not the courage required in 1963 to stand there demanding America live up to its ideals. The only thing he thought about was whether he looked bigger. And the people standing next to him just nodded, smiled, and agreed.

Truly serious matters were buried beneath this absurdity. He signed two executive orders. One reshaped the customs enforcement system. The other eliminated job protections long enjoyed by approximately 8,000 senior federal employees, making them easier to fire. These protections exist to ensure government officials obey the law, the Constitution, and the public interest, not the personal orders of the president. Removing these protections means competence becomes less important than obedience; dissent becomes grounds for dismissal; and those who should tell the truth inside the government will quickly learn their jobs depend on telling the leader what they want to hear.

After that, everything returned to his personal grievances. He attacked the judge who ruled against his "anti-weaponization fund," calling the decision from a "radical left-wing judge." He repeatedly portrayed himself as a victim, especially when discussing the search of his home, seeking sympathy. When a reporter asked about the $1.776 billion "slush fund," he simply said, "I like it. I think it's very important."

Then, he began rebranding his war in Iran. After launching strikes against Iran without Congressional approval, he wanted people to believe it wasn't really a war. "It's not a big deal for us," he said. "We have a powerful military. It's not a big deal for us." At the same time, he assured everyone the stock market is soaring, retirement accounts are growing, and costs are falling. The war is nothing, the economy is perfect. If your grocery bill shows otherwise, you should obviously doubt your own eyes.

Then, his topics drifted to communism. He had posted about it earlier on Truth Social and was clearly quite proud. The first post read: "Has anyone seen a happy communist?" The second was longer: "Communists are always popular with voters early on, or as they say, with the 'people'! But eventually, the country, state, or city goes to hell!" When a reporter read his own words back to him, he immediately got excited. "I just wrote that," he said. "Do you like it? Do you think it's well written?" He was desperate for praise. For a president, it was an awkward moment visible to the entire world.

Then came the familiar routine. He called New York, Los Angeles, and parts of California communist. He acted out in the first person what he imagines a communist agitator says: "You don't have to pay rent anymore." "I'll end your mortgages." "I'll give you free food." "Follow me, you'll have the greatest life." He performed a one-man show playing the villain. He called the Illinois governor a "slacker" and the Chicago mayor a "low IQ person." He denigrated city after city in the country he leads, listing places he claims are failing, only to again portray himself as the only one who can save them.

Then, right in the middle of it all, he suddenly stopped. No conclusion, no natural ending. He was still talking, wandering from one grievance to another, then abruptly said: "Thank you all very much." Almost immediately, his staff moved into action. "Thank you, media. Thank you, media." Reporters were ushered out of the room, the scene cleared. Trump remained seated behind the desk, expression blank, shoulders slumped, seeming to sink into his chair.

We've seen this process before. Something changes, and the event ends abruptly. The room is cleared, staff move quickly, the same phrases are repeated, almost like a rehearsed signal. We don't know the trigger. It could be a physical issue, or a cognitive one. But we know this is not how normal press events end, nor how presidents typically conclude public appearances. And it happens frequently enough that those around him seem to know exactly what to do when it occurs.

During that lengthy tirade, CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins stood there doing her job while he targeted her. He called CNN "devious" and "a very corrupt organization," calling the network garbage. He looked at her and said she "never smiles," calling her "a young, beautiful woman" standing there with "hatred in her eyes." When she tried to speak, he interrupted: "Wait, quiet." He told her: "You should be ashamed of yourself." He kept referring to Democrats as "the dumbocrats." Then he said something I cannot forget. Speaking about Democrats, and her, he said: "They have problems. You have problems too."

He said others have problems while sitting there, holding his right hand with his left, pressing it down. His face was puffy, his right eye sometimes so swollen he could barely open it when walking. His speech was constantly slurred, then suddenly clear. He would explode, then go flat and monotone, then explode again. As a person, it's hard not to feel embarrassed watching this. But as an American, it's harder: thinking of all those who have fought for this country, and realizing that after nearly 250 years of democratic self-governance, this is the leader we present to the world.

We must ask why. With bad news mounting, members of his own party publicly distancing themselves, and questions about his health growing louder by the hour, why did he spend his first public appearance in over a week attacking a reporter for not smiling? The answer is simple. He is trying to discredit those whose job is to tell us the truth, because what is happening is too unfavorable for him. If he can make us stop trusting the media, then what the media reports no longer matters. That's the whole game.

We must understand this game because it goes far beyond one reporter and one bad afternoon. When an authoritarian can no longer reliably output their own propaganda, when the person himself starts slurring, losing his train of thought, and being rushed out of rooms, the machine around him does not stop needing propaganda. It just needs others to produce it for him. So, it reaches out to seize institutions that belong to everyone. It takes over the media.

We saw this at CBS this week. Scott Pelley, who worked for the network for 37 years, was fired. The day before, at an employee meeting, he accused new management of "murdering the show" – referring to *60 Minutes*, known for its accountability journalism. Then, he released a written statement confirming many of our worst fears. He said new management asked him to include false content and bias in a politically sensitive report. He said he was asked to insert unverified claims, and he had refused so far. He said politicians are being invited to choose which reporters interview them. He also said the network's new owners are sidelining the show, in his words, to "curry favor with the Trump administration."

CBS is gone. Its independence and credibility are gone too. We will likely lose CNN as well. They won't stop. We will continue to lose these mainstream media outlets one by one because their owners have done the math. It's more profitable to tell people what the strongman wants them to hear than to tell them the truth. Truth has no oligarch backing it, but lies have bottomless pockets. The leaders of these companies have seen how this president rewards loyalty and punishes others, and they've decided to take what they can while they can, even if they don't believe it will last. They don't care if it lasts; they care about the present.

So, this work will increasingly fall to those without deep pockets. Independent journalists, investigative reporters, writers, and creators, especially in dark times, they still show up every day, often paying a real price for it. Our country cannot survive if these voices are silenced, because a nation whose people do not know what is happening to them is not a free nation. You can already see the consequences of this lack of awareness. Many around us have no real concept of what is actually happening. And those actively seeking the truth increasingly find only the version someone paid to feed them.

When I started writing these articles, I made a promise: Whenever this government attacks the media, the First Amendment, or the right of the American people to hear truth told to power, I will point it out. Today, Trump did exactly that. And I am pointing it out. This is an attack on our right to know, on our right to understand how this government is destroying the country. He sent a direct message to all journalists and media members: I'm coming for you too. To the public, he said: You cannot believe anything the media tells you. Our response must be that we will not back down, and we will support those still speaking out and still reporting the truth.

The way to navigate this history is to match our money with our voice. Whenever this government attacks the First Amendment, we respond by funding those who defend it. This is the most direct form of resistance we can take right now. Independent media is how truth continues to exist when all other systems have been captured. I have been writing every night for a year, without corporate support or funding. No one can reach into my articles and change a single word. Every article I write is free for everyone because the truth should not be locked behind a paywall. But this is only possible because some people choose to support this work through paid memberships, because they understand what is happening and choose to support it. Thank you for standing with me in resistance.

Tonight, I ask you again, don't just think of my voice. Think of every writer, journalist, podcaster, independent media outlet you turn to when you need the truth. Think of those still suffering relentless attacks in their email inboxes while facing greater pressure from the federal government. Think of those who continue to speak out even when it comes at a great cost. Because what this government is trying to build requires our silence. And our most powerful act right now is to ensure those who refuse to be silent can continue. Every paid subscription to an independent voice is a vote against Trump and his supporters' actions and words.

And Trump is growing increasingly desperate because, on this same day the President attacked a reporter and her network, the House passed a War Powers Resolution demanding he end his war in Iran. The vote was 215 to 208. Four Republicans crossed party lines to support the resolution.

It still needs to pass the Senate. Procedurally, it is largely symbolic. But that's not the point. The point is that members of his own party have finally broken ranks publicly and voted against him. This is Trump's greatest fear: disloyalty. Someone said no. Someone realized they should fear their constituents more than they fear him. This is what made the man so agitated during today's event.

Because this is exactly what he is doing now. He is pushing people past the breaking point. This man's cruelty, his paranoia, and his growing intolerance for even the slightest hint of disloyalty are losing him those who once protected him. They watch him slur his words, lose his train of thought, attack everyone, and they begin to calculate their own interests. So, one by one, they start pulling back. This is why I still have hope for America. You should too.

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