By Kenneth Tiven
Across America’s political divide, confidence in traditional journalism is collapsing. Conservatives accuse mainstream newspapers and television networks of refusing to acknowledge Donald Trump’s successes, while liberals increasingly believe those same institutions are too timid to confront what they view as presidential overreach and disinformation.
Into that vacuum has stepped the internet—a sprawling marketplace of partisan storytelling where ideology often matters more than evidence.
Like a shopping mall food court, the digital media ecosystem offers endless choice, but little nourishment. Platforms such as YouTube provide convenience and immediacy, yet are flooded with AI-generated narratives, political propaganda, and outrage-driven commentary. Facts are increasingly treated as optional.
President Donald Trump has mastered that environment by repeating assertions with unwavering certainty, regardless of their accuracy. His claim that the United States is “the only country in the world stupid enough” to allow birthright citizenship ignores the reality that more than 35 nations—including Canada and Mexico—grant citizenship to those born within their borders.
Yet, Trump’s resilience with voters remains undeniable. Americans returned him to office for a second term despite years of falsehoods, political spectacle, and institutional conflict. For critics, that outcome reflects a deeper national problem: a growing public indifference to truth itself.
As a journalist inclined to strike up conversations with strangers, I encountered the same unsettling question repeatedly during a recent international trip: Where is America headed?
The concern felt especially acute as the leaders of the world’s two dominant powers met in Beijing. Americans can only hope Trump remains disciplined and scripted during such encounters. One imagines Xi Jinping’s translators privately bracing themselves for the president’s improvisational rhetoric and combative language.
For China, the summit itself—regardless of tangible outcomes—serves as a geopolitical statement. Beijing wants the world to see China and the United States as the unquestioned “Big Two,” while Russia’s Vladimir Putin watches from Moscow, increasingly diminished by the failure of his military to overpower Ukraine in what was expected to be a swift campaign. The ceremonial grandeur surrounding Trump’s China visit cannot obscure the profound tensions dividing Washington and Beijing.
Trump’s aggressive tariff policies run directly counter to China’s economic ambitions. His undeclared confrontation with Iran threatens the oil supply China depends upon. Beijing remains deeply suspicious of America’s role as a Pacific power and furious over continued US arms sales to Taiwan, which China considers its own territory.
Meanwhile, Trump’s hostility towards green energy collides with China’s dominance in electric vehicles, battery technology, and consumer electronics. Chinese EVs and hybrids remain effectively barred from the American market as the administration shields domestic automakers and fossil fuel interests.
The broader pattern is unmistakable: an administration increasingly dismissive of expertise, intelligence assessments, and institutional restraint in favour of raw political force.
Americans may not know how many gallons their fuel tanks hold, but they know precisely what it costs to fill them. When a routine refill climbs from $60 to nearly $100, inflation becomes impossible to ignore. That economic anxiety is one reason Republican candidates face softening poll numbers ahead of the mid-term elections.
Still, Trump may find political opportunity even in crisis. Escalating tensions with Iran have pushed other controversies—including immigration enforcement battles and renewed scrutiny surrounding the Epstein files—almost entirely out of the national conversation.
—The writer has worked in senior positions at The Washington Post,
NBC, ABC and CNN and also consults for several Indian channels
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