The Mainstream Media Will Try To Normalize Donald Trump. I won't.

This is why independent journalism is so critical in this moment.

Now that Donald Trump has been sworn in as the next President of the United States, we are already seeing the mainstream media take action to normalize Donald Trump and his political agenda. Whether or not you have been watching the events of today, one thing has become clear: during the next four years, legacy media channels are going to move closer to Donald Trump due to fears of retribution. We saw it before he took office with the $15 million ABC News settlement. We are already seeing it now that he has been sworn into office.

The job of a free press isn’t to placate a political figure. It’s to ensure the truth always comes out, whether or not that means holding political figures like Donald Trump and JD Vance accountable. For example, merely reporting that Trump will pardon January 6th defendants is not enough. When reporting about critical events like that it is up to the media to discuss the events of January 6, 2021, what Donald Trump did to incite the violence on that day, and the indictments that came afterwards. But, that’s not all. We must acknowledge the danger of pardoning those who tried to destroy our Capitol just four years ago. We cannot normalize that action.

That;’s my pledge to you. I will not normalize Donald Trump, JD Vance, or their incoming Administration’s policies. As an independent journalist, my job is to give you the facts as presented. That’s not all. It is also to hold those in political leadership accountable and to seek the unvarnished truth. No matter what happens today or over the next four years, know that my commitment to you will hold. And, because I am providing you this news on Substack, my work is not controlled by any billionaire. I have and always will have full editorial control of my work. If you want to support my work, please click the button below to become a paid subscriber:

With that, here is all the news, in short bullet points, that you may have missed today:

• President Biden has pardoned several family members including James B. Biden, Sara Jones Biden, Valerie Biden Owens, John T. Owens, and Francis W. Biden. He has also commuted the life sentence imposed on Leonard Peltier.

• Donald Trump will sign an executive order today to rename the Gulf of Mexico as the "Gulf of America.”

• China signals it will no longer block a deal for TikTok according to the Wall Street Journal.

• Biden issues preemptive pardons for Jan 6 Committee members, Dr. Fauci, and General Mark Milley.

• Trump meme coin plummets in value, investors are losing a lot of money and fast.

• Trump will sign immigration related executive orders including declaring a national emergency at the southern border and will begin work to rollback birthright citizenship.

• Trump will sign executive orders concerning rolling back DEI policies and declaring an energy emergency.

• Trump will sign the 90-day TikTok extension today.

• Marco Rubio is expected to be confirmed as the next Secretary of State as soon as this evening.

It’s going to be a very busy day, and a very long week. I will continue providing you updates, in realtime, as quickly as possible. I will be doing an evening news update around 5:30 PM EST today, so stay tuned. If you enjoy this content, let me know, and please consider becoming a paid subscriber today to support my independent journalism:

Thank you for everything,

Aaron