🌊 Why Trump is Flooding the Zone

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There has been so much news in recent weeks that it’s been difficult to keep up: Changes to immigration and trade, expectations of government layoffs, talk of interventions in Panama and Greenland. We’ve been keeping a close eye on what both Trump’s critics and supporters have been saying to make sense of it all. One thing we’ll do in this newsletter is boil down our findings and share them with you. 

So today’s newsletter doesn’t dive into any specific story, but rather seeks to cut through the noise. Namely, by exploring the strategy of “flooding the zone.” 

“The real opposition is the media. And the way to deal with them is to flood the zone.”

So said Steve Bannon, one of the ideological leaders of Trump’s MAGA movement, in 2018. 

Seven years later, President Trump – barely two weeks into his term – has inundated his opponents with what they consider to be crises:

• Pardoning nearly 1,500 people associated with the January 6 riot; 

• Trying to put government payments on hold; 

• Attempting to lay the groundwork for eliminating the Department of Education and USAID; 

• Offering buyouts to hundreds of thousands of government employees; 

• Removing dozens of Department of Justice and FBI officials; 

• Announcing (and delaying) 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico; 

• Launching mass deportations;

• Promising to “take over the Gaza Strip”;

And much more. 

The media has been struggling to keep up, while opposition politicians have been jumping from crisis to crisis. 

The strategy is known as “flooding the zone,” and Bannon has been talking about it for nearly a decade. Many Trump supporters think it’s working; many of his critics fear it is too. 

Editor’s Note

A different type of newsletter today, so we’re especially curious to hear your takes. A lot of you wrote in about our report from the border, which we sent out yesterday. We’re glad you enjoyed that and are happy to say that we’ll have more reports coming from there and elsewhere in the coming days.

Reply to this email to share your thoughts. As always, thanks for reading.

–Max and Max

RocaNews co-founders