Trump and his love affair with fear

The United States Department of Justice has waived its attempt to subpoena journalists from The New York Times to reveal the sources that provided them with details about the replacement Air Force One that Qatar gifted to President Trump. Some are given jewelry, others planes worth $400 million. In this retraction, one should not see the American president's return to the paths of common sense, which in fact he has never trod, but rather surely the fear of putting someone in the White House in an uncomfortable position with the capacity to lift carpets and point out piles of dirt, or the remains of some cadaver. In fact, Trump has initiated a multitude of lawsuits against journalists and media outlets, but most have fallen by the wayside because he himself has withdrawn them or had them withdrawn. The objective has never been to seek justice, but rather to instill fear in professionals. Not only those who see themselves facing the threat of having the entire State machinery—and what a state!—against them, but also the press as a whole, so that the oppressive climate favors self-censorship. In this specific case, FBI agents showed up at the reporters' homes with great fanfare. In other cases, the request for information also affected their immediate family members, which constitutes blatant blackmail. 

Increasingly, the old censorship of the man with a mustache and scissors is falling into disuse: the internet makes it very difficult to suppress a message without it being heard everywhere, multiplied and amplified by the Streisand effect. What is currently in vogue is this instrumental use of fear. To intimidate and create a climate of insecurity so that the journalist feels they are facing corporate or political bullies with top-tier lawyers as their armed wing. Trump is being exemplary in this practice, and it remains to be seen, in the event that the right and far-right come to power in Spain, how the PP and Vox will import this (let's call it) speech control policy. Because things are looking grim.