Trump and the media

Trump should stop his war with the media. The New York Times head honcho has given this advice but Trump simply isn't interested in being nice to journalists unless they ask him pathetic flattering questions. He does actually give interviews a lot, especially to Fox News and CBS but he basically hates the media because when they do their job properly and ask intelligent questions he just dismisses them as fake news merchants. In the end, this will do him no good. The best presidents know that it is far better to have the media on your side or at least to treat them with respect so they respect back. There's a way of doing this. Not kowtowing to journalists, that would be a huge mistake, but just being prepared to answer questions in a reasonable way. No ranting! Obama was terrific at it, so was Bill Clinton until he had all his troubles with Monica Lewinski. The press loved Ronnie Reagan because he gave such brilliant one-liners and was always charming. George W Bush had a tricky relationship with the media but survived, and his father George HW Bush was good at developing relationships with journalists, although his classic "read my lips" statement when he said there would be no tax rises brought him a helluva lot of trouble in the media when he then raised taxes. But Trump is so anti-media that in his most recent rallies he seemed to spend most of the time raging against the fake news merchants. He should get a life and start winning the media more to his side. For a start, stop this ridiculous war with CNN. The trouble is, Trump's press team are obviously too scared to suggest he starts winning friends in the media. All they do is amplify Trump's prejudices. It's a kind of vicious circle and it's becoming excessively boring.