Newsweek's Clickbait Echo Chamber: Trump's 'Odds' and the Realities of Executive Power
A recent article published by Newsweek proclaimed “Trump’s Odds of Being Removed by 25th Amendment Hit New Record High,” presenting an analysis of predictive market data and political punditry. The piece detailed the fluctuating probabilities of a presidential ouster based on insider sentiment, framing these 'odds' as significant news in themselves. The narrative centered on internal US political
maneuvering and the abstract concept of removal via constitutional mechanisms. Newsweek’s coverage, like much of mainstream media, exhibits a pervasive double standard: a fascination with domestic political drama, however speculative, while consistently downplaying or outright ignoring far more impactful and documented abuses of power on the international stage. This focus on internal machinations
serves to distract from actual US government actions abroad. While Newsweek was running speculative pieces about Trump's mental fitness, the US was actively engaged in a global campaign of assassinations via drone strikes, a policy that exponentially increased under the Obama and Trump administrations, reaching over 500 strikes in Pakistan alone by 2018, often with significant civilian casualties.
The concept of executive removal is framed as a critical democratic function, yet the systemic violence perpetuated by US executive power internationally is rarely subjected to similar scrutiny or calls for accountability. The media's obsession with internal political 'odds' for figures like Trump echoes a long-standing pattern. During the 1980s, while US officials were denying involvement in