Trump resorts to bizarre new strategy to force reporters to read his posts

On Tuesday, President Donald Trump began taking a new approach to ensuring White House reporters see his social media posts: printing them out for them physically. Judging by photos posted online by reporters from various networks, he really wants to emphasize how much he's spending on the midterms.

"White House has handed printouts of Trump’s latest Truth on midterms spending to reporters waiting outside the Oval," posted Danny Kemp of the AFP News Agency, along with a photo of the printout. A correspondent for the conservative outlet the Daily Wire shared another photo, writing, "Reporters waiting to head into the Oval Office just received a physical Truth post from the president (which he posted about half hour ago): POTUS will spend/is spending over $400 million by Election Day!"

Trump's statement, posted shortly before it was passed out physically, read, "Because of my belief in the Republican Party, and all of our Policies and Principles, and especially after witnessing what is taking place in France, and other locations throughout Europe, I am pleased to announce that, having to do with the Most Important Midterm Elections in our Country’s History, I have spent, or will be spending, over 400 Million Dollars by Election Day. More than 300 Million Dollars has already been spent on Advertising, Direct and Indirect Voter Contact, Rallies, Rally Arenas, Telerallies, Get Out the Vote Programs, Election Integrity, and more. It is my Great Honor to do so on behalf of the Republican Party, which has done so much to bring our Country back from the Edge of Oblivion."

While the president is sharing this news like it's a good thing, many experts have noted that the unusually high spending is a sign of how badly things are going for Trump and the GOP. As Time explains, Republicans have been forced to spend extraordinary sums in states and districts usually considered safely red. In the race for the Senate in Texas, for example, the party has spent hundreds of millions of dollars to prop up the floundering campaign of state Attorney General Ken Paxton, whose rampant scandals have poised Democrats to flip the seat blue for the first time in nearly 40 years. And while Republicans have outspent Democrats, the former is still falling behind the latter in the polls. “It is important to keep in mind that having the most, and spending the most, does not guarantee you wins,” Brendan Glavin, the director of insights at the research group OpenSecrets, which tracks money’s effect on U.S. politics, policy, and elections, told Time. “You need to have enough to compete, and you need to be able to get your name out, and people need to know who you are. But it’s not always about having the most.”

In any case, Trump thought his abnormal expenditures were important enough to take the unusual step of printing out the post for reporters. Journalist Laura Rozen suggested it may have something to do with the press secretary role left open by the recently departed Katie Zacharia, posting a reference to the final days of Russian Czar Nicolas II, who grew increasingly isolated and paranoid until his reign was brought down: "When no one in the court dares speak for the czar, you get this."