I love using Michael F’s images but I’ve never used one so close in time to its debut. The tabloid baby image was born on Christmas Eve. It’s still in diapers so handle it with care.

The last week has shown yet again the Impeached Insult Comedian’s insatiable need to be the center of attention at all times. It’s the only explanation for his bizarre and belated intervention into the COVID relief bill. His treasury secretary was in the middle of the negotiations and was presumed to speak for the president*. Trump is a moody bastard, so he decided on a whim that the $600 check was not enough. I wish it was because he wanted to help people, but we know better. He wanted the attention.

That’s the key to Donald Trump: he wants the attention. That’s why he did The Apprentice. He wanted the attention and needed the money. It’s what happens when a millionaire lives la vita billionaire.  That stint on reality teevee gave him an image as a shrewd and savvy tycoon. It was, of course, phony but everything about him is phony except his incessant need for attention.

Calling him the reality show president* is accurate but everybody does it. I prefer to venture where fools fear to tread. That’s why I’m calling Trump the tabloid president*. He came to public attention in the 1980’s when there was a newspaper war in NYC between two tabloids who thrived on celebrity gossip: The Daily News and The Post. It was a perfect set-up for a guy who was willing to leak stories about himself to the media. It’s how a mouthy real estate developer with bad hair became a celebrity.

By the 2016 campaign, Trump was able to plant crazy stories about his GOP opponents in The National Enquirer. Who among us can forget these classics?

I never get tired of those covers.

Trump brought the tabloid mentality to national politics. All publicity is good publicity, especially if it brings you the attention that you crave. Trump’s tabloid mentality should have given him thick skin, but he craves attention’s first cousin: love. Denying people benefits is a funny way of receiving love but the Kaiser of Chaos is a funny little man.

Speaking of tabloids, Trump’s pals at the New York Post finally told him to knock it off and accept his defeat. Here’s the money quote:

“If you insist on spending your final days in office threatening to burn it all down, that will be how you are remembered. Not as a revolutionary, but as the anarchist holding the match.”

You say anarchist, I say arsonist. Let’s call the whole thing off. Literally, not figuratively.

The countdown continues: