# How to Beat Trump's Noise Machine

> Trump uses outrageous provocations to bury bad news about his wars, economy and approval ratings. The antidote is sustained attention to what he wants hidden.
- Title: How to Beat Trump's Noise Machine · TIME | Shortify
- Summary: Trump uses outrageous provocations to bury bad news about his wars, economy and approval ratings. The antidote is sustained attention to what he wants…
- Keywords: donald trump, iran war, media distraction, approval ratings, los angeles, san diego, gavin newsom, todd gloria, operation midnight hammer, operation epic fury, chris murphy, news
- Source: TIME — https://time.com/article/2026/10/07/trump-nebraska-los-angeles-iran-war-noise-machine
- Author: Jeffrey Sonnenfeld
- Published: 2026-10-07T17:54:36.093+00:00
- Read time: 3 min
- Topics: donald trump, iran war, media distraction, approval ratings, los angeles, san diego, gavin newsom, todd gloria, operation midnight hammer, operation epic fury, chris murphy, news
## Trump defends Iran war with shocking remark
At a rally in Grand Island, Nebraska on Monday night, President Donald Trump said Americans should accept Iranian attacks on Los Angeles and San Diego as the price of his war with Iran.

> Let them take out Los Angeles. Let them take out San Diego.
## California leaders condemn Trump's remarks
Governor Gavin Newsom called Trump deranged and dangerous. San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria said his city is not collateral damage. Navy veteran Jim Desmond disagreed vehemently.

> deranged and dangerous
## Media coverage plays into Trump's hands
Cable television spent a day parsing Trump's remarks, giving him exactly what he wanted: distraction from declining poll numbers, rising inflation, falling employment, and military failures.
## Trump's pattern is deliberate, not impulsive
Trump has always operated this way by choice. Mass communication scholars call this the Wurlitzer Effect. In their book Trump's Ten Commandments, the authors call it the Wall of Sound.
## How Trump buries bad news
When conventional leaders face damaging stories, they change the subject with good news. Trump does the opposite. He buries bad news under louder, more outrageous news of his own making.
## Greenland threats in January
In January, Trump escalated threats against Greenland, invoking unsupported dangers to U.S. national security. He put reserve units on alert, threatened military invasion and trade sanctions against Denmark.
## Venezuela raid with shifting justifications
Trump ordered a military raid to capture Venezuelan dictator Nicolas Maduro in early January. He invoked national security, drug interdiction, regime change and promises to lower gasoline prices.
## Operation Midnight Hammer on June twenty-second
On June twenty-second, twenty twenty-five, Trump launched Operation Midnight Hammer, deploying B-two stealth bombers and submarine-launched Tomahawk missiles against three Iranian nuclear facilities: Fordow, Natanz, and Isfahan.
## Operation Epic Fury stalls after eight months
On February twenty-eighth, Trump launched Operation Epic Fury, promising to topple Iran's regime and eliminate Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis within days. Eight months later, fighting continues with no resolution.
## Racist Obama video and Kennedy Center attacks
Trump shared a racist AI video of the Obamas in February, timed to coincide with sagging approval ratings. He then sought to rename the Kennedy Center for Performing Arts or raze it.
## Trump's approval rating hits historic low
Trump's approval ratings are the lowest of either of his terms at thirty-two percent in a recent Reuters slash Ipsos poll. An affordability crisis, persistent inflation and weak jobs growth are buried.
## Pentagon confirms bomber withdrawal from UK
All twelve B-one B bombers at RAF Fairford in the United Kingdom have been flown home after British authorities arrested people over a suspected plot against the base linked to Iran.
## Senator Murphy denied access to Qatar base
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut revealed the Pentagon denied him access to Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, the largest U.S. base in the region. The Pentagon refused to brief him on the war.

> active, unprecedented, unconstitutional effort underway to hide the costs of this war
## Sustained focus is the antidote
The Wall of Sound works only while the audience fails to connect the noise to what it is hiding. The answer is discipline: staying focused on facts and demanding accountability regardless of diversions.
## Key takeaway

Trump deliberately manufactures crises and outrage to distract from failing policies and wars, but sustained focus on his actual record can counter the strategy.