Nobody knows how to deflect the media’s attention like Donald Trump

United States President-elect Donald Trump is seen at a meeting of technology leaders in the Trump Organization conference room at Trump Tower in New York, NY, USA on December 14, 2016. Credit: Albin Lohr-Jones / Pool via CNP /MediaPunch/IPX

How would you grade President Donald Trump’s job performance so far? At least when it comes to turning the tables on his political enemies, he getsĀ a solid “A.”

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TwoĀ days after a firestorm of controversy over Attorney General Jeff Sessions, whose less-than-truthful testimony during his confirmation hearing forced him to recuse himself from any investigation into Russia and the 2016 election, Trump suggested without evidence that his predecessor pulled a Nixon and bugged his phones. Then, a day later, the White House askedĀ Congress to look into the wiretap allegations.

In a statement to the media on Sunday morning, White House Press Secretary Sean “Spicy” Spicer said the president is requesting that Congress “exercise their oversight authority to determine whether executive branch investigative powers were abused in 2016.” Spokesman Sarah Huckabee Sanders ran with that line during her appearance on ABC’sĀ This Week, all but saying that if Trump’s phones were tapped, it would be the biggest political scandal in American history. Congress had to probe the issue, she said, it would be malpractice if it didn’t.

RELATED:Ā James Comey asked the Justice Department to issue this strong response to allegations of Obama wiretapping Trumpā€™s phones

The administration certainly gets points for deflecting. The combination of Trump’s weekend tweet that President Barack Obama may have broken the law for political advantage and Spicer’s statement that Congress needs to spend time investigating what the president himself alleged have changed the story markedly over the past 72Ā hours. The headlines on the front page of theĀ New York TimesĀ and the leads inĀ PoliticoĀ are no longer about Sessions’ recusal, Trump berating his subordinates for bad performance, or pervasive worries within the bureaucracy. They’reĀ now all about the fanciful notion that the Obama White House ordered surveillance of the president-elect.

The media is buying right into the narrative.

For all of Trump’s disdain for “fake news,” he sure has a talent for manipulating what the media covers. This has been observed before by political pundits left and right, and we need only go back to the grueling campaign last year for numerous examples of when Trump said something outrageous in order to sendĀ reporters running afterĀ aĀ shiny object. The most memorableĀ example came when Trump broughtĀ President Bill Clinton’s accusers to a hastily arranged press conference on the eve of the second presidential debate, a period of time when the Access Hollywood tape could very well have cratered his candidacy.

Trump isĀ a master manipulator. He’s been interacting with the media for decades, and he recognizes that all he needs to do is start another fire to sendĀ the firefighters running down the street.

RELATED:Ā Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi responds to President Trumpā€™s claims that Obama ā€œwiretappedā€ him

Trump and his advisors in the White House know the Russia coverage isn’t going away as long as more stories about more meetings between Trump associates and Russian officials are published. He realizes that as long as multiple investigations are being conducted by the intelligence committees and the Justice Department, there is a risk that more damaging developments will see the light of day. HeĀ hasn’t done a particularly good job of defending himself on the merits, and if public reports over the first five weeks of his presidency are anything to go by, heĀ doesn’t believe that his staff is doing a decent enough job either. Deflecting, distracting, and causing controversy may be the only forĀ Trump toĀ fight back.

Fortunately for him, the media is eating it up.

What do you think?

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