U.S. President Donald Trump speaks during the announcement of new fuel economy standards, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., December 3, 2025. REUTERS/Brian Snyder
Donald Trump has run his second term in office like a "tabloid" magazine with a focus on "shock and awe" tactics, former biographer Timothy L. O'Brien argued in a Wednesday piece for Bloomberg, but it is a strategy that will leave the country doomed in the long-run.
O'Brien, who previously worked with Trump for the 2006 biography, "TrumpNation," made frequent comparisons to the president's leadership style and tabloid magazines of old, like the Weekly World News, with its focus on "dubious," "trashy" and "lunatic" stories designed to "knock readers back on their heels." He suggested that Trump and his inner circle run the federal government in a similar manner.
"They yuck it up together each day, zeroing in on a fresh stash of incendiary statements or disruptive, sometimes abusive policy proposals meant to keep the world — their audience — off balance," O'Brien wrote. "There isn’t much linear planning; goals are clear, but a cohesive strategy is absent; shock and awe are the watchwords; a caudillo-esque cult of personality is the endgame; and performance art is the playbook."
O'Brien conceded that this brash style can achieve some things, such as "short-term victories and emotional gratification," with other "authoritarian" tactics able to "bulldoze the opposition" and insulate Trump from consequences. In the long run, however, he argued that the style would be unable to sustain "long-term gains and sophisticated solutions to complex problems," and would leave "civil society and the Constitution in tatters."
O'Brien likened this style of leadership to Trump's earlier life in business, describing him as a "reality TV celebrity and public curiosity dispensing anarchy and outlandish behavior," all of which helped keep him in the headlines. A mix of "his father’s money, credulous lenders and investors and a high-wire, sui generis dedication to self-promotion" helped shield him from lasting consequences as his business ventures consistently failed and stumbled into bankruptcy
Now, he continues to get away with it all thanks to his efforts to trample or corrupt "most essential guardrails" in place to keep presidents from abusing their powers: "the courts, Congress and the electoral process."
"Wherever the opinions of Trump 2.0 might land for Republicans, Democrats and other observers, there is a nonpartisan, nonideological truth at work here: This all amounts to abysmal, perilous management," he said. "Top-drawer CEOs wouldn’t run companies this way, conscientious governors wouldn’t run states this way, competent educators wouldn’t run schools this way, dedicated parents wouldn’t run households this way, and so on. Healthy, constructive outcomes derive from great management, not chaos."
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