This article jabs at some under reported news that have more of a hold on the stare of America’s culture than expected.
While millions around the world have their sights on the Vatican for news on the next Pope, the American socio-political cultural landscape continues to slowly deteriorate. Trivial news is swept under the rug to make way for other glamorous, sensational, and advertisement-friendly news, the kind readers want to waste time reading. This reductive action by the mainstream media does not lessen the importance of the growing pulp fiction pop culture identity in America. This is one element that can be transnationally exported without any added tariffs. The baffling point is that some countries still want to import low-brow news and culturally devoid issues.
Missing In In-action
“As the weeks pass by at the White House, the corner of the residence long used by first ladies remains dark, because this first lady does not really live in Washington” (The Political Wire, May 8).
“Melania Trump vanishes from view for weeks at a time, holing up in Trump Tower in Manhattan or in Florida, where she can lie low at Mar-a-Lago. Administration officials say she is at the White House more often than the public knows, but when exactly, and for how long, these officials will not (or perhaps cannot) say for certain. It’s like having Greta Garbo as first lady,” (New York Times, qtd in The Political Wire, May 8).
Melania Trump has to be one of the lowest-hanging fruits to critique in the White House. Her on-and-off presence in the White House brings one to recall when she stated she would not return to the White House, but would remain at Mar-a-Lago if Trump were to win the presidency. Pick up to where we are today, the First Lady, Melania Trump, has been well out of sight. Political defenders state that her busy schedule keeps her out of the public view for extended periods, but the lack of evidence proves otherwise. Even the Second Lady has been more present in the media.
Trouble In Paradise
Trump Stokes a Vance-Rubio Competition
“President Donald Trump gave JD Vance and Marco Rubio huge portfolios and has openly named both as his potential successors — putting two unlikely friends on a collision course for the GOP nomination in 2028.”
“Vance and Rubio aren’t exactly rivals; in fact, White House officials and people close to the vice president note he’s developed a close relationship with the secretary of state during their time together in the Senate and now in the Trump administration. Intentionally or not, though, the president is stoking future competition between the duo, and those around him are taking notice” (Semafor, qtd in The Political Wire, May 8).
Now, boys, play nice! All kidding aside, this will be one throw-down political in-fighting to watch. Who would be a good fit for the presidency between the two? Is there a third option? One has trouble keeping his mouth shut, the other has trouble keeping his mind on track. Here’s the catch: you decide which of these markers is applied to whom, then ask again, “Which of these two would make a good president?”
Just When You Thought It Was Safe To Search The Internet Or Post On Social Media
Axios provides the background on an issue most have allowed to settle out of mind. Once the country learned that Trump was to become the next president, tech companies jumped to gain a good standing with the notorious litigious president. Knowing that a safe position with this new administration could save their business in the future. Being seen as a counter-intelligence agent could result in dire legal and economic ramifications. Holding no funds back, the major tech industry leaders opened their stock profiles to pave the road to the White House. This was on the tip of the tongue in January 2025.
The TikTok episode took center stage shortly thereafter. What seemed like a devastating blow to this social media platform and millions of viewers and social media influencers, the TikTok ban was deflected, and deflected, until it came to the present. Multiple American businesses have come forth to partner with TikTok to keep it active in the US. Still, some oppose the ongoing presence of TikTok in the US. Vice President JD Vance was numb in passing a decision either to ban TikTok or allow it to remain in operation in the US. Only with an American business partner has TikTok been able to remain active in the US. Such a major social media platform and a lucrative financial center for select businesses and influencers, it is still hard to imagine what a TikTok-free world would look like. The ban has not been removed, the deadline is still lingering, but without the bite it originally gave.
What is taking place in the other major social media platforms and tech giants may appear a bit easier to understand. The outcome, however, would be nearly the same: unplugged permanently.
“America’s tech titans backed President Trump’s promise of a new “Golden Age” with seven-figure checks, glowing public praise and front-row tickets to his inauguration. So far, those favors remain unreciprocated. (Zachary Basu and Ashley Gold, Axios, May 8).
“Big Tech has been in MAGA’s crosshairs for years. Even as Trump revels in the industry’s dramatic realignment and personal overtures, the core tensions in the relationship are far from resolved.
“The famously transactional president knows exactly how much leverage he has over “these internet people,” as he referred to them last week (Axios, May 8).
Seeing the limitation of the president’s social media knowledge, it’s no wonder that he started his own social media platform, Truth Social. The president speaks for himself, saying,
“You know, they all hated me in my first term,” Trump mused during his commencement speech at the University of Alabama. “And now they’re kissing my a**. All of them.”
[comment] One of the most tweet-active presidents in recent internet history, to recognize the limitations of the president’s tech knowledge can draw further questions, “Who provides him with his daily tech data briefings?” or “How confident can America be knowing the leader of the free world is holding the technology to destroy the world in his hands, and yet is a technologically novice?” These, and similar questions, should bring shivers to the American bloodstream. This may be one answer to why he retained the services of Elon Musk for so long. Musk would be able to siphon money and contracts from the federal government under the umbrella of tech support and progress. To keep this silent, Musk’s possession and leverage with DOGE would have anyone, or any department, who questions his agenda fired, reduced in power, or terminated. A win-win for Elon Musk, and the president would be none the wiser.
“Most major corporations have suffered from Trump’s hurricane of tariff announcements and the ensuing economic uncertainty. But for Big Tech, that’s just the tip of the iceberg” (Axios, May 8).
“Meta, whose CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote the playbook on making up with Trumpworld in the weeks after the election, is nearly a month into an FTC antitrust trial over its acquisitions of Instagram and WhatsApp.
“Zuckerberg’s MAGA pivot and personal lobbying have failed to convince Trump or his FTC chair to drop the case, which could force Meta to break up its social media empire.
When more than half of the free world uses Facebook for multiple services, Mark Zuckerberg has plenty to lose if he were to feel the brunt of the political force from the Trump administration. The changes Zuckerberg has already made on Facebook regarding hate speech and racist posts, were done (presumably) to gain security from President Trump and provide a grateful gesture to the president for not pressing the, at the time, legal matter further, which would make a devastating blow to Facebook viewers, stocks, and Zuckerberg’s bottom line. Fast forward, Zuckerberg is yet to be out of the woods. But the matter is on a very slow simmer, waiting for the right time to explode.
“Google, which donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, is facing two landmark antitrust cases from the Justice Department — one targeting its search dominance, the other its advertising business.
“A federal judge ruled last month that Google has maintained an illegal monopoly on online advertising, and DOJ attorneys feel confident that Google could be forced to sell off Chrome in the separate search case” (Axios, May 8).
Google has become, by now, the lifeblood of generations. Some have grown up not knowing a pre-Google world. To crush this mega information dominance might serve to realign a fair trade and work capital. Equally, this breakdown could overturn how internet use is seen and has become normalized. Is this a useful move? Depending on who is asked, the answers may range from a confident affirmation to a heart-stopping “no.”
“Apple, which in February announced a $500 million investment in the U.S. over the next four years, struck gold by persuading Trump to exempt phones, computers and chips from his China tariffs.
“But the relief may be short-lived: CEO Tim Cook warned the remaining tariffs still could cost Apple $900 million this quarter alone, even as the company diversifies its supply chain” (Axios, May 8).
Like Google, Apple has nearly cornered the market on handheld devices. Millennials and Gen-Xers rely on their Apple products. Posh cultural stigmata, Apple is not a brand, it’s a dedicated lifestyle. Investing such an amount in federal trade security was a bold and wise move. The tariffs brought a seismic fear across Apple’s stocks and stockholders. Seeing some reprieve from the original tariff amount, Apple still finds itself looking ahead to further cuts to address and potential manufacturing challenges. The horrifying increase for a new iPhone was eased, but now appears to be on the rise again soon.
“Amazon, which paid $40 million for a Melania Trump documentary, was accused by the White House of a “hostile and political act” last week after a report that it planned to display how tariffs were increasing product prices.
“Trump immediately called Amazon founder Jeff Bezos — and then publicly praised him for “[solving] the problem very quickly” after the company issued a statement denying the report.
Amazon’s Jeff Bezos may have made such a gesture to the Trump campaign to win over the White House. How far did that seemingly down payment for federal protection go? Walking away with only a book deal from the First Lady Melania Trump, Bezos may want to start looking at joining DOGE since his arch-nemesis will soon be leaving this leadership. It might be a pay cut for Bezos, and, honestly, how intelligent can he be if his claim to fame from protection by the executive branch is a vanity press of the First Lady? Is this the likes of which the country could turn to for support? Don’t let the fake smile fool you. Bezos is shaking in his expensive tennis shoes. However, he has proven his fear will push him either to drop out or copy a model, perfect it, and copyright the process for his financial gain. Can you hear the president say, “This is my kind of guy”? Or is it as hard to hear as it sounds?
Of all these points, Axios points out the possible real survivor in the nail-biting tech business debacle. As noted earlier, TikTok may be wearing a life preserver.
“Out of the major tech companies represented at the inauguration, the biggest winner may be a foreign one: TikTok.
“Trump has declined to enforce a law requiring TikTok’s Chinese parent company, ByteDance, to sell the app or face a U.S. ban (Axios, May 8).
One news outlet frames the current state of the union in a past-present context. Not exactly stating this tech industry breakdown, the application of the critique does apply.
“Reopening Alcatraz. Making coal mining great again. Resurrecting our role as a colonial power, so that the only cross-border products we need come from lands we control. And reconstructing the world-class economy we enjoyed when our tariffs were highest, in the 1890s” (Harold Meyerson, The American Prospect, May 8).
The tech issue outlined here follows suit with this litany of political issues. A crumbling infrastructure creates a larger divide between the classes than the present. The “role as a colonial power” underscores my argument stated in depth elsewhere. A MAGA Maoist imperial colonial doctrine is closing its grip. When tech industry leaders fall in line with these other industries, the results across the country will lead to one result: the absence of a foundation of culture.
One Final Thought
Not Your Law Firm
Law Firms That Settled with Trump Pay a Price
“Some in-house lawyers are quietly pulling work away from some law firms that have made deals with President Trump, citing their objections to such deals” (Law.com, qtd in The Political Wire, May 8).
This was a point I raised when the news first came through. How can these highly paid, high-profile law firms and attorneys expect to hold down any credible clients once they side with President Trump? Even if the law firm does not side politically with the president — a point which they should not expose professionally, and to save what credibility remains — clients outside of the Washington political sphere will take note of this alignment, even if it was done to save the firm and their law license. Saying these law firms and attorneys survive the tenure of the current administration, they will still have decades of work ahead of them to rebuild a disassociated name from this political era. All these complications and not a legal agreement in sight, not even a handshake. A verbal agreement is the hinging factor. One must question, even knowing the answer, “Is it worth it?”
Alan Lechusza
