Tendai Ruben Mbofana
My analytical focus usually remains firmly fixed on the complex socio-political landscape of Zimbabwe, where the struggle for justice and accountability provides more than enough material for a lifetime of reflection.
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However, as an avid follower of current events and a dedicated consumer of global news, I find it increasingly difficult to ignore the frantic, almost obsessive dance between the international media and US President Donald Trump.
While the talking heads on major networks and the editors of prestigious newspapers often project an image of moral exhaustion, the reality behind the scenes tells a much more cynical story.
The global media may act enraged by Donald Trump, even going so far as to suggest the world would be a safer and better place without his presence on the public stage, yet they are secretly terrified of his eventual departure.
The relationship is not one of genuine adversarial journalism but rather a form of parasitic symbiosis.
For a decade, Trump has served as the ultimate engine for content and financial gain.
He is the golden goose of engagement in an era where the traditional news model was struggling to survive.
When these organizations label him as an unstable character or a danger to democracy, they are not just reporting a narrative, they are selling a blockbuster movie that they hope never ends.
This obsession is commonly and derogatorily referred to as Trump Derangement Syndrome, a phenomenon where the media’s clinical fixation on a single individual overrides traditional journalistic distance.
In this state of mind, even the most mundane of his actions are amplified into cataclysmic events, precisely because cataclysms sell.
The financial reality of this obsession was famously codified as the Trump Bump.
Between 2016 and 2020, news organizations that were previously on life support suddenly found themselves flush with cash and attention.
The New York Times, for instance, saw its digital circulation explode from roughly two million to over seven million during his first term.
Cable news networks like CNN and MSNBC saw their prime-time audiences nearly double as they pivoted to a format of 24-hour outrage.
This was not a coincidence.
Trump provided a reliable stream of high-octane conflict that the public could not stop watching.
The outrage he generates is a currency that buys subscriptions, clicks, and advertising revenue.
Without the constant friction he provides, the gears of the modern news machine would grind to a halt.
This became painfully evident during the period of the Trump Slump.
After the 2020 election and through the presidency of Joe Biden, the news cycle underwent a dramatic shift toward the mundane.
Policy debates, legislative hurdles, and traditional diplomacy returned to the forefront.
To a serious citizen, this might have seemed like a return to stability, but for the balance sheets of major media houses, it was a disaster.
Viewership plummeted and online subscriptions stagnated as the adrenaline wore off.
CNN and MSNBC experienced double-digit percentage drops in their ratings, and digital traffic across the board cratered.
The public, conditioned by years of high-octane drama and midnight social media posts, found the standard business of governance uninteresting.
The media learned a hard lesson during those years.
They realized that they do not actually want a world where news is just news.
They want a world where news is an existential crisis served with a side of personal scandal.
This is why the current intensity of coverage is so high.
They need him to say something controversial.
They need him to post something that breaks the internet.
If he were to remain silent for an entire week, a sense of panic would likely set in across the newsrooms of New York and London.
There would be nothing to fact-check with performative outrage.
No breaking news banners to flash across the screen.
And no viral clips to drive social media traffic.
This leads to a profound hypocrisy.
While these organizations position themselves as the vanguard of truth and the protectors of democratic norms, they are the ones who provide Trump with billions of dollars in free publicity.
They amplify his every word, even when they claim those words are dangerous, because those words are profitable.
They have commodified the danger they claim to despise.
In doing so, they have become addicted to the very person they claim is destroying the fabric of society.
The editorial boards might compose lengthy essays on the Trumpian threat, but the marketing departments are likely celebrating every time he dominates the headlines.
The terror these organizations feel is not truly about the state of the world or the stability of international relations.
Rather, it is an existential dread regarding their own relevance.
In a world without this central antagonist, what becomes of the 24-hour news cycle?
How do they convince a global audience to pay attention to incremental policy changes or complicated international treaties when the audience has been fed a steady diet of political adrenaline for so long?
They have built an entire infrastructure around one man, and they have no plan for what happens when the circus finally leaves town.
Therefore, when we see the media counting down the days to the end of his presidency, we should not mistake their eagerness for a desire for peace.
They are counting the days with the anxiety of a merchant watching their best customer walk toward the exit.
They pretend to want a return to normalcy, yet normalcy is the one thing their current business models cannot afford.
They need the unpredictability.
They need the controversy.
They need the man they love to hate because, without him, they are just another industry struggling to keep a distracted audience’s attention.
The global media and Donald Trump are locked in a death grip, and despite all the rhetoric of resistance, the media will be the ones most devastated when the silence finally falls.
They do not want to see his back.
They are simply terrified of the void his absence will create in their ledgers and their lives.
- Tendai Ruben Mbofana is a social justice advocate and writer. To directly receive his articles please join his WhatsApp Channel on: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VaqprWCIyPtRnKpkHe08