Greg Degen writes at
The Huffington Post:
I used to manage President Obama’s briefing materials, delivering them late in the evening through the Colonnade at the White House or down the narrow hallway aboard Air Force One. I know what presidential briefings contain, and regardless of what you think of President Trump’s policies, reports that he has trouble concentrating on these materials should be a matter of concern.
The daily flow of presidential memos not only prepares the president for each day, it is central to decision-making and policy planning. The White House paper process carries recommendations from his advisors, through relevant White House offices for review, and finally to the president’s desk for consideration – from trade deals and treaties to military matters.
Mr. Trump has reportedly requested that his memos be no longer than one page, containing no more than nine bullets. The brevity of recently leaked memos regarding the president’s early immigration actions suggest this ‘CliffsNotes’ approach may already be in place. By way of comparison, Mr. Obama received a 57-page memo when considering his early administration priority: how to rescue the economy. The leaked memos for Mr. Trump contain far less information than comparable documents that I saw reach Mr. Obama’s desk, and suggest that his advisors do not think Mr. Trump will bother to read even the very brief memo they have written.
He does watch a lot of TV, so that is how lobbyists try to reach him.
Politico reports:
MSNBC and Fox News are capitalizing on President Donald Trump’s TV watching habits, dramatically increasing issue-advocacy advertising rates in recent weeks as companies and outside groups try to influence Trump and his top lieutenants.
The ad rates for “Morning Joe” have more than doubled post-election, according to one veteran media buyer. Trump, who reportedly watches the show most mornings, has a close relationship with “Morning Joe” host Joe Scarborough, and they talk regularly.
Fox News’ “The O’Reilly Factor” and other prime-time programs on Fox News have boosted their rates about 50 percent. Trump also is a frequent viewer of the network’s prime-time shows.
“The president’s media habits are so predictable, advertisers migrate to those areas,” said one media buyer.
One prominent D.C. consultant said some of his clients, including a big bank and major pharmaceutical company, were negotiating this week to buy ads on “O’Reilly” and “Morning Joe” because they knew they had a good chance of reaching the president. Trump has also been known to respond directly to what he’s watching on television and tweet statistics and topics he sees on-air. Those tweets often drive news coverage during the day.
