One of the things that Donald Trump is really good at is chaos. Sometimes its intentional, like his efforts to sow doubts about his loss in the 2020 election. Sometimes, its spontaneous, like when he decided last month that he wanted Congress to repeal the debt ceiling limit, throwing weeks of Congressional negotiations into doubt. And then there are the trademark Trump brain burps and hare-brained schemes. Sometimes these are fleeting flashes from Trumps train of thought, such as the idea that mainlining bleach could kill the COVID virus. Other times, these are hare-brained schemes that Trump fixes on. Related Brian Sims marries his partner early to get it done before Donald Trumps presidency starts There are very treacherous times were going into, and having the protections of the law. The latest example of the latter is Trumps obsession with buying Greenland and invading Panama. (For good measure, Trump said Canada should be part of the U.S., that seemed to just be trolling on Trumps part.) This set off a flurry of media coverage about Trump as a 21st century William McKinley, culminating in a spectacularly silly story in The New York Times about just how much Greenland would cost to buy, the Times equivalent of a Zillow estimate. Dive deeper every day Join our newsletter for thought-provoking commentary that goes beyond the surface of LGBTQ+ issues Subscribe to our Newsletter today As with all things Trump, the incoming president views these issues through a tiny lens of his own, which is real estate and a 1950s fifth-graders sense of history. Trump doesnt see countries so much as he sees property to be acquired. Instead of acknowledging that Greenland is not for sale and that Trump is just fantasizing, the media spent endless time chasing down the bright shiny object that Trump threw before them. The same is true of the Panama invasion. Trump was asked by a reporter if he would rule out military or economic coercion to acquire either Panama or Greenland, so the idea didnt originate with Trump. In typical Trump fashion, Trump gave a non-answer, along the lines of his many people are saying shtick. No, I cant assure you on either of those two. But I can say this, we need them for economic security, Trump said.Immediately, the headlines blared that Trump wouldnt rule out invading Panama. But Trump probably never had that idea before a reporter raised it. When faced with a direct question, Trump will always be noncommital, which is what happened here. The problem that all the invasion talk highlights is that the media still treat Trump as if he were a normal politician. If a normal politician said what Trump said, it would be a clear signal about policy. For Trump, its just a shoot-from-the-hip response, with no regard to the implications. But youd never know that from the breathless coverage that follows. Instead, there are follow-ups from Trump supporters plastering Trumps comments with fig leaves to make him sound like a policy guru. In fact, Trump probably does think he can buy Greenland just like Jefferson secured the Louisiana Purchase (assuming he knows Jefferson did). Thats because Trump thinks the U.S. can act as it did when it was a much younger nation, by acquiring land. And acquiring land is what the real estate mogul loves, so of course hes going to apply his previous career to his current one. What happens while the media run around talking about Greenlands strategic importance (which for Trump is probably the excuse, not the reason, to acquire more land), is that really important ssues got lost. When was the last time you heard about Project 2025? Or Pete Hegseth? Or Robert Kennedy Jr.? What about mass deportations or tariffs or anti-trans measures? You know, the actual stuff that will happen and change (indeed ruin) peoples lives.This is the brilliance behind Trumps randomness. He knows that he can send the media off on a wild goose chase at a moments notice, changing the narrative. The media think that everything Trump says is news, even when its hogwash, and have to treat it seriously. Under the guidelines that theyve imposed on themselves, they cant acknowledge that a lot of what Trump says is just made up in the moment. Instead, they have to analyze it as if it was a thoughtful statement. The result is that truly serious things that are happening get buried. Trump is a creature of the media. He had a symbiotic relationship with the tabloids, and he learned just what the media need: distractions. Trumps thought processes are just a flood of distractions, creating chaos. Unfortunately, hes found a willing partner in the media.Subscribe to theLGBTQ Nation newsletterand be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.