Donald Trump’s rise and rhetoric reflect a profound shift in how media shapes behaviour, power and public discourse in the digital age.

President Trump’s language in 2026 is profane, angry, scurrilous and increasingly erratic, with critics calling it a form of “violent rhetoric”.

To understand how Trump became his own algorithm, how a President of the US can spout blasphemy, threaten annihilation of a civilisation, bring havoc to the world and remain in office as Commander in Chief, we need to look to the writings of Marshall McLuhan, Understanding media: The Extensions of Man, 1964.

With his student Walter Ong – the author of Orality and Literacy (1982) –  who wrote that different modes of communication grant different powers to society, they go some way to explaining how Trump has emerged as a product of our times, and as a genius in manipulating his followers and exploiting the power of One.

McLuhan observed the alphabet is the most detribalising technology that’s ever existed. Prior to the written word all knowledge was communal. McLuhan’s writings were a combination of assertion, astute guesswork and nonsensical monologue that contained profound insights. In essence, he argued we are shaped more by the nature of the medium than we are by the content. Understanding Trump necessitates understanding media and his genius in capturing the essence of each new medium to build his power and amass great wealth.

Prior to the invention of the printing press, around 1440, communication was oral. People would gather in groups for singing, dancing and rituals and to listen to storytellers who would tell share experience through stories that would inform and entertain; stories have always been the glue that binds us together.

Spoken words disappear instantly so the best storytellers – and Trump would be one – would employ memory-enhancing mnemonic techniques – rhythms, acronyms, cliches and imagery – with high repetition to help maintain focus and store knowledge which was restricted to what the bards, elders or specialists had heard and could remember.

Marshall McLuhan argued that technologies, particularly the printing press, fundamentally restructured the way we think and the way society was organised. Whereas oral cultures relied on memory-driven, formulaic, and situational communication, reading and writing transformed thought into an abstract, analytic and logical process.

The printing press was a catalyst for the transition from the Middle Ages to the modern era, breaking down the traditional monopoly on knowledge held by scribes and monastic libraries; people who would never meet could share ideas. By printing Bibles in local languages rather than Latin, ordinary people could read the text themselves, weakening the control of the clergy.

The widespread availability of books accelerated the revolution in science, fostered nation states, a sense of private property, independent thought and modern individualism.

Donald Trump was born on 14 June, 1946. This was the peak era of radio broadcasting for news, variety shows, and drama. Print journalism was still a primary source of daily information, and movies and newsreels played in theatres were a huge part of popular culture. Television was only beginning to enter the mainstream, but they gained popularity rapidly in a post WWII thriving, consumer-focused society.

Donald Trump had behavioural issues as a child and was sent in 1959 to the New York Military Academy to learn discipline. He was 13 years old. The military taught him a combative style; he learned self-promotion early, telling fellow students that he would become famous.

He didn’t read literature, scanned newspapers and preferred watching television to pick up trends. Emerging from the Academy he focused on real estate and property deals, developing a media profile for his high-flying lifestyle; he was a heavily leveraged brand tycoon who survived multiple bankruptcies through celebrity licensing.

In 2003 producer Mark Burnett, had an idea for a new reality competition series called The Apprentice. The host was to be a “master of the universe”, all through smoke and mirrors, and well scripted and edited fantasy. Trump took on the role.

The first episode, “Meet the Billionaire,” aired on 8 January, 2004. It attracted 18 million viewers, with the first season finale drawing 28 million. Trump remained as host and executive producer until 2015 when he decided to run for President of the USA. By then he was a nationally recognized figure, perceived by viewers as an immensely wealthy can-do businessman who brooked no nonsense and exercised total power. “You’re fired”, was his catch cry, He was never wrong and he did it his way.

The show was the blueprint for his future political career. Millions of Americans were convinced Donald Trump was really the man they had seen on prime-time television for eleven years

McLuhan argued that the electronic age that brought radio and television created a “global village” that returned humanity to a more oral, communal, and instant way of sharing information. By 2015, when Trump ran for office, the Internet had taken over as the dominant means of communication. The smart phone had entered the market in 2007 and by 2012 their use was widespread. Reading declined, social media use boomed, podcasts picked up, together transforming what it was to be an actively engaged informed thinking person. Orality had made a comeback.

No one exemplified McLuhan’s argument better than Donald Trump. Words flowed from his mouth, repetition, alliteration, catchy phrases all delivered by a practiced performer. Ralph Nader writes “the remarkable thing about Donald Trump’s rise to becoming America’s elected dictator is that it all came out of his MOUTH. Trump discovered he could win the battle of words without having any record of achievement.”

Trump thrived in this communication landscape. He could go on for hours. And he captured the public imagination and their belief he was the disrupter who could bring change and help to those who were angry and feeling disenfranchised.

He gave his opponents catchy denigrating nicknames, Sleepy Joe, Laffin’ Kamala, Tampon Tim for Tim Walz, Pocahontas for Elizabeth Warren, Sloppy Steve for Bannon. He used cliches to denounce those who challenged him. The media were “the Enemy of the People”: “Drain the Swamp” referred to cleaning up corruption in Washington; Democratic opponents were “Radical Left Lunatics”: unfavourable reports were “Fake News”; officials who ruled against him were “so-called judges”, and illegal immigrants were “Bad Dudes”. “Lock Her Up”, became his defining chant from the 2016 campaign against Hillary Clinton and “Make America Great Again” his trademark.

Trump did and said what he pleased and his behaviour was accepted, excused, found amusing. It followed we can all do the same. So, standards, ethics, and empathy eroded. Joshua Meyrowitz writes in No sense of place: The Impact of Social Media on Social Behaviour, “Electronic media unmoored us”. Those outside the hierarchy could now scream at the billionaires. The angry could target the privileged, hector them, let the rage out.

We don’t look at one another anymore. We text, we don’t call. Technology has removed face to face eye contact where we become aware of another’s posture and tone. There has been a collective loss of empathy.

The altruistic principles espoused by the Google founders “Don’t be evil” or Mark Zuckerberg’s expressed vision to be open and connected, are long forgotten. Social media has no brought more cohesion rather it has brought disruption, polarisation and distrust.

And the President’s favourite communication tool to spew his ravings – Truth Social – has become a digital sewer, streaming vulgarity, amorality, blasphemous and violent rhetoric to his followers.

The views expressed in this article may or may not reflect those of Pearls and Irritations.

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