Trump Sets New Bar for Presidential Success

Ticker

Monika Bauerlein,
CEO

Dear Reader,

The next few months are make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising, and we need more online readers to pitch in than have been of late. In "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," we take a level-headed look at the brutal economics of journalism, why investigative reporting like you get from us matters, and why we're optimistic we can grow our base of support in a big way—starting with hitting a huge $300,000 goal in just three weeks. Please learn more and donate if you can right now.

The next few months are make-or-break for Mother Jones’ fundraising. We need to raise $300,000 quickly, and we need more online readers to pitch in than have been. Please learn more in "It's Not a Crisis. This Is the New Normal," where we go into the brutal economics of journalism, and what makes Mother Jones unique and worth supporting if you can right now.

Fight disinformation: Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily newsletter and follow the news that matters.

By the way, Donald Trump is getting good marks for today’s speech in Saudi Arabia because he managed to recite it adequately off the teleprompter and didn’t veer off topic into any of the usual Trump idiocy.

Seriously. This is what the coverage is like. Apparently that’s all we expect from a president these days.¹

One other note: I’m not sure how many people have noticed this, but Trump has a long history of talking big when he’s on a stage or on TV but backing down when he meets people face-to-face. It’s already happened with China, Japan, Mexico, Germany, and a host of others. Now it’s happening with Saudi Arabia, which seems to have Trump practically in thrall. This should come as no surprise to anyone.

¹Of course, the last time this happened was Trump’s state-of-the-union address, and he managed to bollox that up within two days. I won’t be surprised if he does the same this time.