They say you can’t fight fire with fire. Maybe so. But when the blaze is roaring, you don’t ask whether the firefighter lives in a modest home or a mansion.
You care he shows up, knows what he’s doing, and doesn't flinch at the heat.
NBC’s Jonathan Allen missed that point entirely in his recent column, “From a Gilded Perch, Trump Tries to Retain the Common Touch.” The article implies President Donald Trump’s wealth makes him too detached to connect with the working class.
Allen makes it sound like Trump is performing populism instead of practicing it, offering the tired trope that a man with gold-plated fixtures cannot possibly understand the struggles of a family trying to stretch a grocery budget.
It's a lazy premise.
And worse, it’s flat-out wrong.
The Ivory Tower Takes Aim
Critics like Allen sit at a comfortable distance from the people they claim to defend. Their world is framed by filtered headlines, press briefings, and catered talking points.
They claim moral clarity from on high while sneering at those who live in steel towns, farm country, and border cities.
The same people Trump actually meets, actually listens to, and actually fights for.
Receipts: Trump Shows Up
Let’s take a short walk through recent history.
These aren’t hypotheticals or nostalgia from 2016.
These are documented, boots-on-the-ground moments from just the past few weeks of Trump’s presidency.
They tell a different story from Allen’s lofted theory.
April 29, 2025: Warren, Michigan
President Trump marked his first 100 days back in office, not with a Rose Garden photo op or a fundraising dinner in Manhattan.
He chose Macomb County Community College, deep in the heart of blue-collar Michigan, to speak directly with American families and workers.
This wasn’t just a campaign stop.
It was a recommitment to economic nationalism, job creation, and putting America First, not in a soundbite, but in a working-class zip code.
April 30, 2025: SiriusXM Town Hall
One day later, Trump took part in a live town hall with Chris Cuomo on SiriusXM.
No filters.
No planted questions.
No handpicked audience.
For an hour, he fielded questions from listeners across the political spectrum. He addressed inflation, crime, immigration, energy, and free speech.
The conversation was raw, unscripted, and unspun.
In today’s media world, that kind of transparency is rare. For a sitting president, it’s practically unheard of.
May 8, 2025: Steel and Tariff Announcement
At a press conference, Trump announced a significant expansion of steel and aluminum tariffs.
He explained it directly to the American public, not as an academic trade policy, but as a battle to protect jobs and livelihoods.
His message was simple.
If foreign steel floods our markets, our workers suffer.
And if America cannot make steel, it cannot remain a world power.
The people affected most by these decisions were not donors or diplomats.
They were the men and women whose backs built the country. Trump made sure they heard it straight from him.
May 30, 2025: West Mifflin, Pennsylvania
In the shadow of Pittsburgh’s steel legacy, Trump addressed a crowd in West Mifflin to clarify the U.S. Steel-Nippon Steel deal.
There was concern over Japanese ownership.
Trump made it clear: no American workers would be laid off, and their jobs would not be shipped overseas.
He stood on the stage and promised bonuses.
He committed to American control over American industry.
The workers didn’t need a translator. They cheered because they believed him. They believed him because he showed up.
May 30, 2025: Press Event with Elon Musk
That same day, Trump hosted a joint appearance with Elon Musk.
The conversation focused on energy innovation, manufacturing, and technology strategy.
It wasn’t held in Silicon Valley.
It wasn’t behind closed doors.
It was public, visible, and directed at real Americans whose futures hinge on the decisions being made today in D.C. and Detroit.
Now, let’s address the talking point that “Trump is out of touch because he’s wealthy.”
The Media’s Favorite Myth: Trump Can’t Relate
Every president lives in a fortress. It doesn’t matter whether it’s called Mar-a-Lago or Martha’s Vineyard.
What matters is whether that president remembers who he works for. When Trump walks into a rally, people don’t see a billionaire.
They see someone who speaks like they do.
They see someone who fights the battles they’ve been begging leaders to fight for decades.
Donald Trump doesn’t need to pretend he’s a working-class guy. He doesn’t wear flannel shirts or haul hay for photo ops. What he does is put working-class Americans first, not as a campaign gimmick, but as a governing principle.
What They Don’t See from the Press Box
Allen’s column betrays the kind of cultural elitism that gave rise to Trump’s popularity in the first place. You don’t have to sip champagne to write for NBC, but it helps. And it shows.
This isn’t about wealth. It’s about will.
Trump uses his platform to bulldoze red tape, challenge globalist trade norms, and re-center national priorities around Main Street instead of Wall Street.
Compare that to the professional class of journalists and bureaucrats.
When was the last time they walked into a union hall in Michigan?
When did they last sit down with farmers in Iowa?
They act like Trump’s rallies are carnival acts, but they forget no one cheers that loud for someone who doesn't make them feel seen.
They can’t understand it because they’ve never experienced it.
A Contrast in Presidential Engagement
While President Trump has consistently engaged directly with the American people through rallies, town halls, and press conferences, President Veg--sorry, President Joe Biden's record in this regard has been notably different.
Reports show that during his tenure, Biden held significantly fewer press conferences than his predecessors. For instance, as of early 2024, Biden had conducted only 33 press conferences, compared to 88 by Trump and 164 by Obama during similar periods.
Hmm, I wonder why.
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Attempts to showcase Biden in unscripted settings have faced challenges. A notable example is a staged town hall in April 2024, intended to display Biden's spontaneous engagement with voters.
However, the event was closed to the press, and the footage was reportedly unusable because of performance issues.
This contrast underscores the differing approaches of the two leaders in maintaining a direct connection with the American public.
Trust Earned, Not Given
So, let’s return to the firefighter.
Yes, he owns a pleasant home. Maybe a really nice one.
But when the call comes, he’s the one racing into the flames while the critics argue over his curtains.
Trump doesn’t need validation from media elites. He already has something far more meaningful: the trust of the people who build, dig, fix, haul, weld, and farm.
That trust was not given to him because of his wealth.
It was earned in places like West Mifflin and Warren.
It was forged in the blunt honesty of his speeches and the promises he kept in policy.
That’s not populism theater.
That’s public service.
And no gilded column can polish over that truth.
