I began writing about politics, culture, and PR for PJ Media in the summer of 2024. Before that, political birdwatching was a hobby, not a profession. Like everyone else, I had my opinions, but it wasn’t my professional focus.
But when I started writing about it daily — waist-deep in the 2024 presidential campaign, no less — I noticed a pattern: The Democrats were telegraphing almost all of their moves via their PR tactics.
The media’s language and tactical coordination were a dead giveaway. Sometimes, you could even catch ‘em red-handed!
This observation led to a theory: Because the Democrats have had such an absurdly cozy (and/or incestuous) relationship with the mainstream media for so long, aggressively leveraging media relationships has evolved into a yuuuuge part of their marketing. (Which makes sense: If the media had your back and were always willing to help, you’d probably take advantage of it, too.)
If you understood how PR works, you could almost always anticipate their next move.
That matters because your PR tactics reveal your REAL marketing objectives — not the bullfeces you’re shoveling at the public. So by reverse-engineering the former, we knew Kamala Harris’ insistence that “we will win” the 2024 election — and that her internal polling had it as a “margin of error race” — was a bald-faced lie. She was losing.
But whereas the Democrats would telegraph their next move, Team Trump operated in the shadows. Try as I might, I couldn’t find a pattern or a useful predictive metric; his next move was almost always a mystery. (I mean, I’d love to tell you I had Greenland on my bingo card, but nope.)
Until now.
Donald Trump isn’t a tactics guy. For most of his life, he’s been way too high up the food chain to have to meddle with tactics (at least, for the most part).
Instead, he’s an idea guy.
He’s a genius at branding, marketing, and media relations. It’s a God-given gift. His ear for sloganeering is uncanny; he has a sixth sense for what will sell.
And it works because he understands where the PR boundaries are — the basic rules and principles for our industry — and operates within them. He’ll (repeatedly!) surprise you with his ideas and decisions, but his rollout is straightforward and disciplined. He’s smart enough to recognize “stupid mistakes” — and prideful enough to avoid making them.
Since the early 1980s, Donald Trump has hired and fired hundreds of marketers. (Including my ex-boss.) He’s seen how they implement his ideas — the dos and don’ts of PR — and called ‘em on the carpet when they’ve screwed up.
Which brings us to Donald Trump’s decision on the oft-elusive Iran peace deal. He told the media he’s making a “final determination” on formally ending the Iran War, and hinted in Friday’s Truth Social post that the Iranian blockade will now be lifted.
The world is waiting: Will President Trump sign the Iran peace deal or not?
I offer you three predictions:
First, because President Trump knows basic PR rules, i.e., releasing good news on a Monday and bad news late on Friday and/or over the weekend, if he rejects the peace deal, we’ll hear about it soon. (Additionally, since rejecting the peace deal will be bad for the markets, it makes sense to time it for the weekend, when the stock market is closed. It’s an SOP Trump has followed before.)
President Trump understands how he’s polling on Iran. He’s also aware of the PR fallout — which is why he won’t treat a rejected deal the same as an approved one.
Second, this means if he accepts the deal, we won’t hear about it until Monday. (Barring accidental leaks, of course.) That’s when Trump will officially declare victory.
An early morning Truth Social post would send the stock market soaring! (Hint, hint.)
Third, if/when this happens, he’ll then have to sell his victory to the public — what we gained versus what we lost. It’ll require plenty of media interviews. (Time for a return visit to Joe Rogan?)
Trump knows the Dems and the media will claim ASAP that his deal was worse than Obama’s — that the Iran War was a dreadful waste of time and a cataclysmic mistake — so he’ll counterprogram it by declaring it one of America’s greatest achievements ever: At the low, low cost of just a few weeks of war (and three months of higher gas prices) we saved our children from a nuclear holocaust. Now, finally, there’s a chance for lasting peace in the Middle East — which means that future presidents won’t send our soldiers to fight in yet another “forever war.”
Just in time for America’s 250th birthday, too!
Which would turn the 250th birthday bash into an extended victory celebration. And in my humble opinion, that’s the REAL headline: America’s 250th birthday celebration will receive a ton of media attention, and President Trump will leverage it to sell his Iran victory to the American people.
Right now, the Iran War is unpopular. But right now, we’re still in the “pain phase” — with higher gas prices, an uncertain outcome, global chaos, and the opening/closing of Schrödinger’s Strait. Once we’re in the “reward phase,” Trump must convince voters that the reward was worth it. That’s not a simple task.
But by using America’s 250th birthday celebration as a rocket ship, he’ll have the greatest PR vehicle imaginable.
The president won’t be understated in his sales pitch, because that’s never been his style. He’ll be effusive and over-the-top. It’ll be a star-studded sight to behold!
And if it works, it’ll perfectly position Republicans for the midterms.
That’s my prediction. Let’s see if I’m right.
One Last Thing: 2026 is a critical year for America First. It began with Mayor Mamdani declaring war on “rugged individualism” and will reach a crescendo with the midterm elections. Nothing less than the fate of the America First movement teeters in the balance.
Never before have the political battle lines been so clearly defined. Win or lose, 2026 will transform our country.
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