In 2017, the media’s war on President Trump was vicious. Today, it’s downright unhinged.
Back then, they had already set the tone: breathless Russia conspiracies, nonstop lawsuits, attacking his children’s charities, smearing every business connected to his name. Even before he had signed his first major executive orders, the media-industrial complex had decided their job was not to report—it was to resist.
But here’s the key difference between Trump’s first 100 days then and now.
Today, Trump isn’t just disrupting the status quo — he’s dismantling it brick by brick. The media, realizing they failed to stop him the first time, has become even more hysterical, more desperate, and frankly, more dishonest.
In the first term, Trump’s team was relatively green. They had ideas like “America First,” yet they didn’t yet have the deep bench of talent or policy infrastructure ready to roll. Second go around, and that’s changed. Trump had a machine in Florida churning out fully developed policies: border crackdowns, restoring merit-based education, and reversing Biden-era corruption. Think tanks, legal teams, and grassroots movements are all finely tuned. There’s no more warming up. It’s full speed ahead.
That terrifies the media.
Now more than ever, it’s clear the media machine is back in action, just like during the phony Russia collusion narrative — a hoax thoroughly debunked by the Mueller report and multiple investigations. Today, they’re using polls — many with questionable sampling methods — to try to shape public opinion against President Trump.
Media polls say Trump’s approval is tanking — but the numbers smell off. The NYT/Siena poll claiming 42% approval only surveyed 37% Trump voters. ABC/WaPo screamed “Lowest in 80 Years” with just 34% Trump voters polled. As GOP pollster John McLaughlin asked, “Didn’t we win the popular vote with 50%?” Meanwhile, Quantus Insights — one of the few firms to get 2024 right — shows Trump at 91% GOP support and 48% overall approval. So, who’s really cooking the numbers?
Once again, the corporate press seems more interested in framing a story than reporting the truth.
Compare that to Biden’s first 100 days.
The corporate media acted like stenographers, not watchdogs. Biden could barely stumble through a sentence without a teleprompter, yet every gaffe was brushed aside. Border crisis? Seasonal. Inflation? Transitory. Afghanistan? Oh well, whoops. No warning of impending doom. No daily “fact checks” dissecting his every move.
Today, when Trump cracks down on violent protestors or enforces immigration law, the media labels it an “escalation” or “authoritarian.” Yet when Biden’s team allowed MS-13 gang members and criminals to pour into the country, or when they used the FBI to target concerned parents at school board meetings, the media called it “restoring norms.”
The double standard is no longer just blatant — it’s proudly weaponized.
Another difference is the attacks on Trump’s cabinet. In 2017, most of Trump’s picks flew under the radar unless tied to Russia conspiracies. Now, Trump’s cabinet selections face immediate character assassinations. Pete Hegseth, a military veteran/news personality turned combative Secretary of Defense, is learning this the hard way. Instead of calmly laying out facts, he sometimes punches back at reporters like a cable news pundit — and the media and democratic lawmakers exploit every misstep.
What Trump needs — and largely has this time — are disciplined warriors who don’t take the bait. Trump can get away with calling out the press directly. His staff, however, must stick to facts and let results speak louder than outrage.
A growing point of contention in Trump’s second term is the mainstream media’s intensifying war on alternative media.
For the first time, independent outlets like Tim Pool’s podcast (which attracts more than ten times the viewership compared to MSNBC) are getting White House credentials. Legacy media outlets responded by attacking them as “MAGA commentators,” “far-right nuts” or financed by Russia the second they stepped foot in the briefing room. Apparently, free press only applies if you agree with CNN’s groupthink.
The left used to champion free speech. Today, they only defend it if it serves their narrative. If you expose the truth about illegal immigration, racial quotas at universities, or violent campus protests, you’re labeled “dangerous misinformation” — even when you’re just reading government data aloud.
Meanwhile, the legacy media now openly defends the indefensible. Universities that blatantly violate anti-discrimination laws? Defended. Illegal immigrants who commit violent crimes? Defended. Foreign agitators leading riots while on student visas? Defended. Criminal judges obstructing lawful deportations? Defended.
It’s a full-blown inversion of sanity. Trump’s team moves to enforce the law, restore fairness, and protect Americans — and the media frames it as “tyranny”, a term that refers to oppressive or unjust rule, often associated with dictators and authoritarian regimes.
The irony is rich: the same people who warned that Trump would destroy democracy are now the ones undermining the rule of law to shield criminals and protect their political investments.
At the end of the day, the left-leaning corporate media learned nothing from Trump’s first victory—and that’s their Achilles’ heel. They are still fighting the last war, using broken tactics and relying on increasingly isolated audiences.
At the same time, millions of Americans who endured four years of media gaslighting under Biden see right through the noise. They’re tuning out CNN, bypassing the New York Times, and looking directly at what Trump is doing: securing the border, restoring accountability, and refusing to apologize for putting America first.
If the first 100 days are any indication, Trump isn’t slowing down.
And this time, neither are we.
Adam Weiss is the CEO of AMW PR, & Host of Media Exposed on Real America’s Voice News. AMW PR is a New York based political strategy and communications firm. His firm has worked with Jim Brown, Judge Jeanine Pirro, Congressman Lee Zeldin, Eboni Williams, Corey Lewandowski, David Bossie, Andrew Giuliani, Governor Haley Barbour, Steve Hilton and more.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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