Trump Tries to Bully Fox Into More Rally Coverage — Will it Work?

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TOP STORY

TRUMP RALLY BLACKOUT?

President Donald Trump spoke in Dayton, OH, on Saturday, three days after 1,400 people were laid off at a truck factory in the city. This year’s midterms are already being described as a test of sorts for Democrat and Republican candidates hoping to appeal to working-class voters; inflation, largely spurred by the ongoing war in Iran, and data centers are both hot issues.

The president appeared unconcerned about both, the stack noted today. If one of his recent outbursts on Truth Social is any kind of barometer, he mostly just seemed upset the appearance didn’t spark more media commentary.

THREE TAKES

The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — Trump spent part of his Ohio speech targeting CNN’s Kaitlan Collins, Jones noted. And “once again, Trump’s singling out of a reporter was troubling.” But what was different about this attack on the oft-targeted Collins was that we got to see in real-time the impact those attacks can hav — as Jones noted the crowd was visibly and audibly riled up. “How dangerous it is to single out a specific reporter in the midst of a crowd and then rile up that crowd to the point where people are angrily booing and chanting,” he observed. The president also “complained that the rally wasn’t covered on Sunday morning’s Fox & Friends Weekend,” and went after the network’s liberal commentator Jessica Tarlov.

CNN’s Reliable Sources, Brian Stelter — Stelter also zeroed in on Trump’s displeasure with Fox. Though the president insisted, “Our people want to see our Rallies, and reports on our Rallies, on FoxNews, or they will very quickly stop watching,” Stelter had his own observation. “Maybe. Or maybe — and this is my educated guess — Fox is calculating that Trump’s rallies aren’t a ratings magnet right now,” he posited. “The midterm convention sure wasn’t.”

To the Contrary with Charlie Sykes, Charlie Sykes — Sykes focused more on the political angle of Saturday’s speech — but in so doing, perhaps hit on why Fox News only provided minimal coverage. The president “continued to pimp for massive new data centers despite the fact that Ohio residents overwhelmingly oppose them,” Sykes wrote, “and dropped a threat to ignore the state if it elected a Democratic governor.” That’s “not exactly a winning message,” he added. Apparently, this “is evidently the president’s closing argument in the homestretch of the midterm campaign. Ballrooms, arches, bribes, bizarrely blasphemous ads, and crude b*llsh*t.”

TAKEAWAY: Trump is doing everything he can to put himself on the ballot in November. But his strategy of maximum visibility to the base relies on Fox News coverage — which is why he’s been laser-focused on them in recent days. CNN and MS NOW obviously aren’t going to take Trump rallies (at least, not for more than an unflattering soundbite). It’s all about Fox. Expect the rhetoric from the president to ratchet up over the next month as he looks to secure more coverage of his events. But will Fox News start taking them? The answer will likely come down to cold hard business.

📰 TOP SCOOPS & ANALYSIS 📰

SCOOP TheWrap, Sharon Waxman — Warner Bros. film executives Mike De Luca and Pam Abdy were waiting for “a phone call informing them of their future employment” Friday morning, Waxman revealed today. When that call came, David Ellison confirmed what the pair “had read online the previous night in an anonymous report: that they would not be joining the new merged Warner-Paramount studio.” That decision “was certainly an inelegant way to handle the exit of two studio chiefs who had ushered Warner Bros to glory at the Academy Awards earlier this year,” Waxman added. “Both De Luca and Abdy were livid at the way their exit was handled, according to individuals with knowledge of their reaction.”

SCOOP The Washington Sun, Evan McMorris-Santoro, Jasmine Wright, and Manuela Silva — Republicans recently “dropped $130 million” in Texas, a number that is “just part of the GOP money flow” into the state. Dems are seeing this as a win for their own party. As Texas Democratic Party Chair Kendall Scudder told The Sun, “We have put together an operation that’s forced Republicans to spend $220 million in what should be one of their strongholds. So Texas Democrats are putting up a real fight here, Republicans know it, that’s why they’re spending money.”

SCOOP Status, Natalie Korach — Leadership at McClatchy has still “offered staffers virtually no explanation of what comes next” weeks after making sweeping cuts. The Idaho Statesmen has been deeply impacted, and is now “set to lose a staggering 13 of its 22 remaining newsroom staffers,” a number that includes “10 of its remaining 18 union members.” Korach added, “At the end of next week, staffers at the Statesman and dozens of other journalists at McClatchy-owned papers will officially depart their respective outlets.” The company “has spent the past year increasingly betting on artificial intelligence to power its newspapers, despite staunch objections from its own journalists.” She added, “And though there’s no indication the cuts were tied to the company’s A.I. ambitions, in newsrooms still reeling from the losses, staffers told me the company’s priorities are hard to miss.”

SCOOP  POLITICO Playbook, Dasha Burns, Will Steakin, and Adam Wren — Ken Paxton “privately admitted” his race is “being run by Washington,” Playbook revealed today. While attending a “small fundraising event” in September, Paxton said, “I’ve never been in a race where I felt less control over the campaign and, like, what issues are going to matter because it’s all coming — you know — from D.C. I don’t control message or what we’re doing.” Paxton also reportedly said that he misses “the days when I could go to, get around with all the people.” That audio was “obtained by Playbook from a person in the room who does not support Paxton, and verified by another attendee.”

ANALYSIS Barrett Media’s Morning Edition, Garrett Searight — It’s still justified for those at CNN to be nervous about the network’s future post-Skydance launch, Searight wrote. But the network did “receive a quiet vote of confidence” from David Ellison: a video he posted “showed the Skydance logo alongside what amounts to the company’s core brands. Paramount. Warner Brothers. HBO Max and Paramount+. DC Comics. Nickelodeon. And then, there it was: CNN.” Several other brands, including TNT Sports and Discovery Channel, weren’t on the list. “Those are household names, yet none of them earned a spot. CNN did,” Searight added. “That placement highlights how the new company feels about the network. Ellison’s team didn’t list CNN by accident, so the frame tells us how the company views the network. In other words, CNN sits near the center of the strategy rather than on the margins.”

ANALYSIS The Federalist, John Daniel Davidson — Student-led riots in France are “a warning for America,” Davidson insisted today. He also said the reason why is clear: “mass immigration will split your country in two, and the two sides will eventually go to war.” The riots, which began as a protest of the state of public schools in the Parisian suburb Creteil, represent one of those sides. The other, he added, was on hand when Pope Leo XIV — who has spoken out against the “extremely disrespectful” treatment of immigrants in the United States — drew a crowd of 800,000 who “lined the Avenue des Champs-Élysées for an open-air Mass in Paris, catching the media and civil authorities by surprise.” That second group is the “ancient France, the true France,” Davidson contended.

ANALYSIS CJR’s The Media Today, Jem Bartholomew — This week will be “a major one for American press,” Bartholomew wrote. Skydance is likely to close on its big merger on Tuesday, and the restraining order issued by Judge Timothy J. Kelly that forced the White House to reinstate journalists from CNN, MS NOW, and Politico expires Thursday. CNN was “engaged in a battle with the Trump administration” before Ellison, who has had lots of meetings and business dealings with the president, took over. This week we will observe “two stories” that are “quieter” than a lot that pertain to the president, but that “could have long-lasting implications for the American press.”

ANALYSIS The Poynter Report, Tom Jones — CBS News has been “looking for a way to cut ties with its once-major star” Tony Romo ever since he was “arrested on suspicion of operating a vehicle while intoxicated in Milwaukee in July,” Jones noted. On Friday, the network announced that goal had been achieved. “Why would CBS want to rid itself of Romo? Perhaps it was because Romo had fallen out of favor with fans and media critics and still had four years and $72 million left on his contract,” he added. But not so fast — per reporting from The Athletic, Romo is set to get most of that money. “Operating a vehicle while intoxicated is a serious offense that should not be shrugged off,” Jones wrote. “However, if CBS really wanted to keep Romo, it’s hard to imagine it wouldn’t have worked with him to eventually find a path to getting back into the booth. Perhaps there was more going on behind the scenes than we know.”

📈BUSINESS OF MEDIA 🎥

Semafor Media, Max Tani — The Tarbell Center for AI Journalism is launching a whopping $10 million grant fund to finance big-swing AI reporting, starting with a $480,000 grant to Machine Gods—NPR’s new video podcast hosted by former Hard Fork hosts Kevin Roose and Casey Newton—alongside $250,000 for NPR’s Power and Influence desk. QUOTE  “Grants will range between $50,000 and $500,000, but Tarbell said it could make multimillion-dollar grants for the right projects.”

Semafor Media, Max Tani — Bad vibes are on the rise inside The Atlantic since CEO Nick Thompson‘s launched and found success with his The Most Interesting Thing in AI podcast. Newsroom journalists are worried because the pod features sponcon, operates without editorial oversight, could be confused for official Atlantic material, and even runs the risk of undercutting the pub’s own reporting while booking tech heavyweights like OpenAI’s Sam Altman. QUOTE  “The show is made by the magazine’s business side, and features interviews with technologists and business leaders, interspersed with sponsored content.”

Feed Me, Emily Sundberg — Graydon Carter’s legendary satire outlet Spy Magazine is launching a month-long Substack pop-up to mark its 40th anniversary, publishing one archival story a day focused on President Trump. This time, though, the content will include commentary. It’s a nostalgic print-meets-creator-economy play, though co-founder Kurt Andersen admitted their ultimate editorial goal is classic Spy. QUOTE  “‘Our great hope with this is that he or one of his press people will call us horrible scumbags,’ Kurt Andersen (co-founder of Spy) told The New York Times.”

ADWEEK Daily, Chris Cicchiello — VML and WPP Creative boss Jon Cook is stepping down after nearly three decades with the agency, handing his slot over to longtime colleague and close friend Eric Campbell as the ad giant reorganizes its global creative executive suite. QUOTE  “As he steps away from a business he’s spent the past two-plus decades building, Jon Cook feels comforted by the fact that he gets to hand the reins over to not only his longtime colleague, but close personal friend.”

Awful Announcing’s The A Block, Brendon Kleen — Fox Sports quietly cut ties with Dave Portnoy and Barstool Sports on Big Noon Kickoff after just over one season. Awful Announcing breaks down why the partnership fizzled, pointing out that Fox asked Barstool to fit into a corporate broadcast structure rather than licensing an existing hit show the way ESPN did with Pat McAfee. QUOTE  “When FS1 chopped up its daytime lineup last year and struck a deal to have Barstool Sports create its new morning show, the logic was sound: If you can’t beat them, hire them. … By designing a deal that didn’t guarantee the Barstool audience would follow and by asking Barstool’s talent to step outside their comfort zones, Fox turned a sharp response to its top competitor into another frustrating flub.”

The Ankler’s The Wakeup, Sean McNulty — Amazon MGM’s Colleen Hoover adaptation Verity opened to a nice, robust $32.6 million domestically and $63 million globally, marking the operational debut of Amazon MGM’s international film distribution division across key foreign markets. It’s also the second-biggest opening for a Hoover adaptation, of which there have already been four. QUOTE  “This movie marks the first release for AMAZON MGM’s built-from-scratch international film distribution arm in Spain, Mexico and AU/NZ, and the AMAZON marketing team in France.”

Barrett Media, Garrett Searight — National Association of Broadcasters CEO Curtis LeGeyt sat down with Barrett Media to reflect on the legislative battle surrounding the AM Radio for Every Vehicle Act and detail where the association is turning its focus next as carmakers adapt dashboard tech. QUOTE  “For LeGeyt, the AM radio effort stands apart from the other issues he has worked on at the NAB. Mostly because of who drove it: more than 1 million radio listeners contacted their members of Congress.”

OTHER COOL STUFF

Feed Me — New York baker Gabrielle Scelzo, who bakes weekly for Saturday Night Live table reads, was watching the show from home when she saw Taylor Swift live on screen carrying her custom birthday cake for host Dakota Johnson. The TV appearance put an end to viral TikTok rumors speculating that Swift had baked the cake herself. Now that takes the cake!

Page Six Hollywood — Michael Douglas reveals in his new memoir One Helluva Ride that when he arrived at the 1992 Oscars, the FBI and LAPD warned him of a threat from a suspect planning to stab him with an HIV-infected needle. To protect the star while he presented on stage, undercover federal agents were secretly scattered through the crowd.

👀 WHAT GOT MISSED? 👀

POLITICO Playbook, Dasha Burns, Will Steakin, and Adam Wren — The White House is “keeping an eye on” a suspected plague death in Russia, Playbook reported. It’s also been noted that “the incident may have been an accident stemming from Russia’s military biological weapons program.” This story got a few mentions in today’s stack for sure. But it could be the biggest story in the world very soon.

🏆 NEWSLETTER OF THE DAY 🏆

The Bulwark’s Morning Shots, Bill Kristol and Andrew Egger — Kristol and Egger have diligently covered the tragic death of Pierre Damas Bel, a 20-year-old Haitian who “had come to the United States legally as a high schooler in 2024” and who “threw himself under a truck on the interstate—a death of despair following the revocation of his legal status by the Trump administration this summer.” Bel was buried in Ohio Saturday, the same day Trump visited the state. Egger’s sensitive, angry, and direct reporting on the funeral, the president’s speech, and the state of immigration in the United States is a powerful read. “Many unanswerable questions hung over Bel’s funeral. Here are two,” he wrote. “How could a country extend such a shining future to a young man like him—only to shatter that future, and him, by suddenly ripping it away? And how could the president who made it happen show his face that same day, just miles down the road, not only to defend that change, but to bask in it?”

This newsletter was produced by Lindsey Ellefson.