As America enters a dark tunnel of dangerous internal divisions and an increasingly violent public discourse, Donald Trump is escalating his attacks on many of this nation's institutions.
One of the most dramatic battlegrounds is the US president's war on the media.
It was typified this week when Trump announced he was beginning a $US15 billion ($22 billion) defamation lawsuit against The New York Times.
It was not for any particular article, but rather a general dislike of one of the country's oldest, and most cherished, institutions. Trump is arguing the paper has become a mouthpiece for the Democrats and in general defames him.
He's doing this because it works for him. His MAGA base — the Make America Great Again loyalists who twice propelled him into the White House — delight in his attacks on the media.
This is happening in both big and small ways. The big ways are the lawsuits and threats. The small ways are how the Trump White House is, day by day, changing the composition of the journalists who can question the president and his spokespeople.
In an increasingly right press pool, even centrists appear left
Almost every briefing she holds, White House spokesperson Karoline Leavitt introduces a new member to the press pool — usually a new right-wing media outlet.
And then, when the president or Leavitt front the media, more and more of these outlets are being called upon to ask questions — usually soft, often obsequious questions.
If Trump is getting questions he does not like — for example, anything related to the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein — then often one of these favoured journalists will be given the call so that the pressure will be taken off.
On cue, those journalists will ask questions such as how well Trump's law and order crackdown in Washington DC is working.
This means any question that is neutral, or vaguely critical, stands out. For example, the questions from chief CNN White House correspondent Kaitlan Collins, an impeccably factual and objective journalist, seem hostile compared to those that often come before or after her.
Collins joined CNN from a right-wing media outlet and certainly has no left-wing pedigree. She is a professional journalist. Collins is rigorous in her inquiry of every guest she has on, but in the White House briefing room, with an increasing number of right-wing media, she appears to the left when she is in fact centrist.
Likewise, Collins's equivalent at Fox News, Peter Doocy, is a real journalist. While Fox News has a clear right-wing bias — as MSNBC has a clear left-wing bias — Doocy reports the facts as he sees them.
But compared to many of the new right-wing media in the White House, Doocy appears left of them when he is in fact centrist in his reporting.
Trump is so rarely challenged, standard questions seem hostile
We at the ABC had a taste of this new world ourselves this week. On behalf of the ABC's Four Corners, I asked Trump some questions about how much his wealth had increased since he returned to the White House in January.
They were not particularly hostile questions, nor abusive in tone. We asked Trump whether it was appropriate for a US president to be engaged in so many business deals while in office.
Some members of the Trump family appear to have embraced cryptocurrency with a gusto. One of the most dramatic — and opaque — deals reported by the US media involves the United Arab Emirates investing $US2 billion into a crypto company connected to the Trump family. It's clear they are getting a lot of cash, but it's not completely clear what the UAE is getting in return.
There are all sorts of other deals too — such as Qatar's offer to give Trump a $US400 million plane to replace Air Force One or a billion dollar resort in Vietnam.
One of the big problems with a president or his family doing these sorts of deals is that it can compromise the integrity of the White House.
The Founding Fathers of the US insisted on writing a Foreign Emoluments Clause into the constitution to ensure there could be no conflicts of interest posed by foreign countries giving presents to presidents.
And so the ABC turned up yesterday to the White House with some simple questions for Trump: How much richer is he now than when he re-entered the Oval Office? Are such business activities appropriate for a president? And what do countries like the UAE want in return for these billions?
Because he is so rarely challenged these days, such questions seem hostile to him. Trump responded with a personal attack — with a hint of menace that there might be reprisals against Australia.
In Donald Trump's America, questions not to the liking of the president are met not with answers but hostility.
While the media can undoubtedly annoy and inconvenience people in power, it would be a different world if we are not able to ask these questions.
