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Breaking the Left
By Thomas Kolbe
Oct. 19, 2025
Donald Trump is the master of memes -- and of the media. No modern political figure understands better how to energize the long-humiliated conservative-patriotic soul that has been crushed for decades by a left-liberal media zeitgeist. His Gaza performance is the latest chapter in the ongoing media revolution of our time.
Peace in Gaza: the guns have fallen silent between Israel Defense Forces and Hamas. What was unthinkable for decades has happened: a historic breakthrough. Hostage and POW exchanges -- all brokered by U.S. President Donald Trump.
The achievement alone commands extraordinary respect. But with Trump now mediating in Armenia-Azerbaijan, between Israel and Iran, and pressing ahead with unfinished work in Ukraine, a Nobel Peace Prize would seem almost inevitable.
And Trump, ever the media virtuoso, translated this geopolitical power move into the perfect, iconic imagery.
Trump Plays the Media Like a Grand Piano
Whether delivering his address in the Knesset or receiving European leaders and global political elites, the spectacle was unmistakable: a parade of dignitaries bowing before the American president -- a display directed not just at European audiences but at the power brokers of the Arab world as well.
The scene recalled the now-famous White House moment during the Ukraine debate: Ursula von der Leyen, Friedrich Merz, Keir Starmer, and Emmanuel Macron lined up like schoolchildren at the teacher’s desk, listening to the president.
The moment culminated in Trump’s demonstrative handshake with Macron -- a symbol of Europe’s complete submission to Washington’s dominant player.
Total Dominance
The world witnessed it in real time: Trump controls the iconography of power like no one else. He projects himself as the new ordering force in the Middle East, backed by allies like Saudi Arabia, now tied to Washington through billions in investment. Traveling aboard Air Force One between Washington, Tel Aviv, and Sharm el-Sheikh, he turned diplomacy into a livestream event.
Europe, once the colonial power in the region, was reduced to a spectator role. Even the congratulatory statements from European heads of state looked awkward against Trump’s monologue. His media strategy leaves no room for co-stars. This is a one-man show. And Trump plays the lead.
A Masterclass in Iconography
The list of Trump’s choreographed power moves is long. Remember the handshake with von der Leyen sealing the U.S.-EU trade deal? It was all about the image.
He hosted his European counterparts at his private golf resort in Scotland, flying them in via his personal helicopter -- no military escort. Everything followed a scripted, perfectly timed playbook. The message: America is back on top.
Europe, dimmed to its real geopolitical size, played second fiddle. The era of European globalism sneaking through the American back door -- via forums like World Economic Forum -- is over. So is the age of U.S. presidents pushing the European climate agenda, from Bill Clinton to Barack Obama to Joe Biden. Trump is burying the CO2 climate cult in America once and for all.
The Second Declaration of Independence
Repeatedly, the same image played out: in the Oval Office, Trump signs executive order after executive order, driving his cabinet to implement a deregulation blitz -- a second Declaration of Independence from the Old Continent.
Another media bombshell followed on April 2: in the Rose Garden, Trump declared a global tariff war. Through a few bold, poster-sized charts, he ended an era: the era of free riding on the dollar system was over.
Two days after the last London Interbank Offered Rate (LIBOR) contract expired, the pricing of dollar credit returned to Washington’s control via the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (SOFR).
Beyond Symbolism
Most Europeans still don’t grasp the signal: the U.S. will no longer let itself be hitched to Europe’s geopolitical cart -- certainly not to die on European battlefields again. Not in a war with Russia that isn’t in America’s strategic interest.
The Trump-Putin media plot in Alaska made that message unmistakable.
Trump’s power lies in his ability to dominate narratives, shape symbolic language, and project an unapologetic American patriotism. Europe’s reaction is defensive: through the Digital Services Act, Digital Markets Act, planned chat controls and digital IDs, Brussels tries to claw back control of the narrative by brute bureaucratic force. But against Washington’s renewed self-confidence and civic model, the Eurocrats look like yesterday’s men.
The Butler Moment
The turning point came in Butler, Pennsylvania: after the assassination attempt, Trump, bloodied and defiant, raised his fist and shouted “Fight! Fight! Fight!” in front of the American flag. That image burned itself into the national psyche. It was a declaration of war against cultural Marxism -- the ideological core of Europe’s eco-socialist movement.
Trump had cracked the media code long before that. From flipping burgers at McDonald's to posing as a garbage truck driver -- it wasn’t cheap campaign theater. It was strategic authenticity, in stark contrast to the aloof eco-socialist bureaucrats.
The result: attention shifted to him, away from choreographed smear campaigns and the concealed frailty of Biden. Trump didn’t fake being “the people.” He embodied it -- and weaponized authenticity into power.
Dismantling the Machine
After his election, Trump moved fast to dismantle the Left’s media machine. The breakup of United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was a key moment. State-aligned broadcasters folded, funding pipelines to statist media, green ideology, and eco-socialist activism dried up.
Trump struck a chord with the times. He transformed media dominance and narrative instinct into electoral power. His biggest coup? Killing the CO2 myth. In Trump’s America, CO2 is no longer the demon gas upon which an eco-socialist nightmare could be built.
The question now is: How long before this media collapse of the Left reaches Europe? When it does, the rising conservative forces in Eastern Europe -- led by Viktor Orbán -- may find their historic hour has come.
In politics, good governance alone is never enough. You must project it -- with the right imagery, in tune with the zeitgeist.
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From American Thinker
Link:
https://www.americanthinker.com/arti..._the_left.html
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