Trump will manage to ride the wave of international censure

Once again Trump is forced to make a U-turn on an unfavourable Executive Order. When images of crying children held in chain-link cages at US border crossings flashed around the world there was an international outcry.

Trump, being media savvy, realised the potential damage this policy could cause ended the detention of migrant children saying “So we're going to have strong, very strong borders, but we’re going to keep the families together. I didn't like the sight or the feeling of families being separated.”

Despite the international outcry against Trump’s detention of children, or maybe because of it, I have no doubt The Donald will manage to persuade his followers that the uproar over locking up and separating migrant children from their parents was all ‘fake’ news.

What we need to remember is a large swathe of the US electorate has turned its back on the 'fake news' of the mainstream media. Trump has persuaded many of his followers that 'fake' news outlets are targeting him, and for them to take no notice of their reports.

Trump has cleverly manipulated these people. So instead, they now take any reports from the mainstream as 'fake' anti-Trump propaganda. And extremely dangerously, they now turn to Donald Trump to hear the 'true' news.

Even the fascists had at least to close down opposition media channels in order to take over all propagation of news. Trump is succeeding without physically closing down the opposition. Instead, he has caused his supporters to view any other news source as toxic.

Trump is unlike any other US president. He doesn't play by the rules of the established political class. He disregards convention, and his rules are formed by trial and error. Just as he has done with this news story.