Words Matter in Facing a Critical Midterm in 2026

American news reporting, even among those media that try hardest to be independent, has become an effective mouthpiece for the Trump administration - and for future right-wing drifts in American politics. The most recent and most alarming example is media's echo of Trump's view of foreign policy as the art of "the deal."

News reports used to talk about international relations with words such as "detente," "agreement," "pact," "treaty," "resolution," and the like. Recently, however, the media characterizes international relations, almost exclusively, by using Trump's own term: "the deal."

It matters if you think words matter. It matters if you undersstand that words shape and reveal actual thinking.

What the "Deal" Language Reveals

Here's what a "deal" normally means in the business world. A deal is an agreement between businesses undertaken in such a way as to give each side something to celebrate - even when one company is absorbed by the other. It's a business transaction, a trade, a sale.

What using this language to describe international relations reveals about Trump is his belief that international relations are simply a matter of a business transaction writ large. It is the trading of "goods" with no attention paid to values.

The media's mistake is thinking that when Trump talks about making a deal, he means a mutually beneficial relationship. Trump is not operating in that universe. He is operating on the assumption that a deal is a win for Trump no matter what the other side loses - and no matter what those who take his "side" lose (heads up, Trump voters) - and no matter what our country loses. He's not the king of detente: he's the king of the hostile takeover.

Resisting that takeover means rejecting the lingo he uses to describe it. We can start resisting it with the midterm elections in 2026. Vote for a Congress and state governors who will resist Trump's dealing.

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