How To Spin Trump
Doug Poretz, Principal, Doug Poretz Ltd. Communications StrategyIt’s the type of question that intrudes on your consciousness when you’re driving in the car by yourself. Mindless driving. And then, from out-of-nowhere, you ask yourself: “Think you’re a PR genius? OK, genius. How would you spin Trump now?”Think about it. Accept as your premise the reality of your client. He’ll be reluctant to take your advice. He’ll make rogue comments that shift a narrative without notice and in a totally different direction. He’s likely to lie both with his private and public statements. His team is comprised mostly by replacements for those who were previously fired or otherwise forced to leave. And, journalists who will communicate your story to the public, whether you like it or not, really dislike you. OK. That’s enough. Back to the question: How you gonna handle this, PR genius?I’ve got the answer!First, we have to start at the end goal. What do we want to achieve? Do we want to maintain a majority on the Hill in both houses in a few months? Do we want to win 2020? Do we want to be remembered favorably by history? Is there some legislation we want to achieve? Some regulations we want to get rid of? What’s our end game? Given our understanding of the client, we should define the end goal for him rather than asking him to articulate it. Then, our biggest challenge is to get him to adhere to the primary goal. So, we have to identify an end goal that he’s going to buy. The end goal should be: History.When you think about it, although Trump shows little knowledge or understanding of history, he loves to dwell on it. He compares himself to other presidents in recent history (Obama, for example) and in more distant history as well (Stonewall Jackson, for example). He usually extolls his achievements in historical terms as well. For example: “Today, I’m very proud of myself, because I’ve accomplished something that nobody else has been able to accomplish.” The fact that the achievement to which he was referring was mundane (getting Obama to show his birth certificate), was irrelevant. The important thing was that it was something that nobody else did. An historical event.How about what he said when he fired H. R. McMaster from his White House: “Nobody has been tougher on Russia than I have.” That’s historic. And when asserting his own character, he does it in historic terms: “I am the least anti-Semitic person that you’ve ever seen in your entire life.” How about after Charlottesville, the similarly historic attributes he gave himself: “I am the least racist person you have ever interviewed.” When he discussed his tariffs, how did he describe himself? “Nobody knows more about trade than me.” Historic. How about his view of himself as a president: “With the exception of the late, great Abraham Lincoln, I can be more presidential than any president that’s ever held this office.” He has “the best words.” And, nobody “in the history of the world” knows more about taxes than he does. He’s also proclaimed that “nobody in the history of this country has ever known so much about infrastructure as Donald Trump.” He said of his treatment during his trip to Asia that he was treated to “red carpet like I think probably nobody has ever received.” And, lest we forget, “no politician in history … has been treated worse or more unfairly” than he has.OK! Enough! We’re going to pitch Trump on the end-goal of positioning himself as the greatest president (or maybe ruler of any type) in the history of the world. That means we can say: “Look boss. We’re not going to tell you to stop tweeting. We’re not going to tell you what to tweet about. All we want is that every time you say something, say it from the perspective of your greatness. So, instead of talking about what a bad attorney Michael Cohen is, say something like “nobody in history could ever be so innocent when lawyers are against him.” And if the press picks on you for no progress on Korea, just talk about the first meeting and proudly claim: “After all, when you think of it. Who else could do it?” And even though you used that one before, you can always recycle your own braggadocio because, just as you wrote in The Art of the Deal:“The final key to the way I promote is bravado. I play to people's fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited by those who do. That's why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and the greatest and the most spectacular. I call it truthful hyperbole. It's an innocent form of exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.”So … we’re done with our strategy on how to spin Trump. Just have him talk about everything he does and says as the greatest in the history of the world. You’re not going to change anything else about him. Period. But with this strategy, he can still go rogue and explain it by saying: “I’m one of the strongest leaders in the world to be able to change your story like that.” And, he can still bully others while couching it in superlative terms about himself: “I don’t need those intelligence experts because I’m smarter than all of them put together.” Actually, that claim is already tried and true.That’s it. That’s all you can do. Think there is any other way you can create a positive “spin” strategy for Trump? I gave it a bunch of thought, and if you have a better idea, I freely admit that you’re a better PR strategist than I am, maybe one of the best of all time. But, of course, not as good as Trump. He’s the best PR person in the history of the world.
About the Author: Over a five-decade career in communications, Doug Poretz has been involved in virtually every type of communications issue, from opening a major casino in Atlantic City to integrating the public schools of Alexandria, VA (“Remember the Titans”), engineering acquisitions and divestitures, IPOs, and major positioning and branding campaigns for enterprises in a wide variety of industries at every stage of the life cycle. Along the way, he has been part of the senior management of three NYSE companies, and started a number of highly successful communications firms, each of which benefited by Doug’s model of no time sheets, no departments or “practice groups” and no silos. The approach generally resulted in producing great work for clients, high margins and growth for the firm, and an exhilaratingly great experience for the firm’s professionals. Today, Doug provides strategic counsel on a retainer or project basis for enterprises including communications firms wanting to think past the existing boundaries. DougPoretz@gmail.com
