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OPINION: Texas A&M professor says Trump’s transparency is what authoritarians do

A Texas A&M University professor says President Donald Trump is acting like an “authoritarian” – by being transparent and having regular media availability.

Professor Jennifer Mercieca said “authoritarians like Russian President Vladimir Putin” use a “propaganda strategy” of “[d]eliberately overwhelming people with a flood of news content.”

They do so “to distort reality and prevent people from clearly evaluating their government’s actions,” Mercieca wrote in The Conversation.

She previously wrote a book called “Demagogue for President” about Trump’s “rhetorical genius” and also called him a fascist.

The communications professor said Trump “has already answered more than 1,000 questions from reporters since he returned to office, which is nearly five times more questions than he answered at this point in his first presidency.”

The president also has held 18 press conferences in the past two months – almost meeting his per-year average from his first term in office.

You’d think this transparency from the press would be seen as a good thing and part of a free and functioning republic – here is the leader of the free world ready and willing to take questions. Surely, this is a marked improvement from basement dweller President Joe Biden and his team who downplayed his obvious cognitive decline. (Since Jake Tapper wrote a book about it, the media is now free to acknowledge what everyone else saw right in front of their eyes).

But alas, college professors have a way of seeing something sinister in everything Trump does.

“In 2025, in order to win the day’s news coverage, Trump is flooding the media with an unrelenting tidal wave of news content to dominate and vanquish the zone,” Mercieca wrote.

While some politicians use communication to “promote democracy,” “[o]ther political leaders use communication in undemocratic ways to manipulate and coerce, preventing citizens from using their reason and critical thinking skills to evaluate policies,” the professor wrote.

Trump’s strategy then is to create “an unrelenting tidal wave of content…to enable Trump to attract and keep the nation’s attention on himself and – in the process, drown out other voices.”

But he is the president after all, and just like any politician or entertainer, he wants the attention on himself. That might be an issue of hubris, but it doesn’t undermine the country.

In some ways Professor Mercieca is correct that Trump is very good at working the media. The president picked skilled communicators for high-profile positions that deal with issues appealing to his base – Tulsi Gabbard and Kash Patel to take on the Deep State, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. for vaccine safety and food system issues, Pete Hegseth for restoring the military’s image, and Kristi Noem for securing the border. Elon Musk’s quasi-official role at the Department of Government Efficiency is also a proven way to drive media coverage as well.

All these picks are high-profile, have a history of media appearances, and appeal to Trump’s base.

On the flip side, he has picked reserved and measured voices for important positions with wonkier portfolios – Scott Bessent for Treasury Secretary and Doug Burgum for Department of Interior, for example.

Trump’s successful media strategy does not make him an “authoritarian” or “demagogue” but rather a very stable genius.

MORE: Trump to sign executive order aimed at dismantling Dept. of Ed.

IMAGE CAPTION AND CREDIT: President Donald Trump speaks at a press conference from Mar-a-Lago; White House/YouTube.

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