Donald Trump thanks you for your attention

‘The president exists loudly,’ a Republican senator says. “That’s just the way he is.’

- BY STEVEN SLOAN

PRESIDENT Trump spent decades seeking attention in the tabloids and on reality TV. In the attention economy, he's a market maker.

(AL DRAGO Bloomberg)

A stunning military intervention in Venezuela. Telling the New York Giants which coach to hire. Threats against Iran, Denmark, Greenland and Colombia. Posing with someone else’s Nobel Peace Prize. Dangling the potential of deploying U.S. troops in Minneapolis. Flipping off a critic. Announcing an aggressive round of tariffs. Threatening political enemies.

For President Trump, this blizzard was just the first half of January.

If a president’s most valuable currency is time, Trump operates as if he has an almost limitless supply, ever willing to share no matter the day, the hour or the circumstance.

He's rewritten the role of the presidency in a divided country, commanding constant attention with little regard for consequences. For all his talk about strength, his approach leans more toward virality than virility with social media as his primary accelerant.

“The president exists loudly,” said Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.). “The president will play with fire. I haven't seen him yet play with live hand grenades, but I’ve seen him come damn close. That’s just the way he is, and it’s not going to change.”

At least Trump thanks you in the process.

During his second term, the Republican president has signed off of his social media post with the catchphrase “thank you for your attention to this matter” 242 times, according to data compiled by Roll Call Factbase. For good measure, he often uses all capital letters and a few exclamation points.

He has spent decades seeking attention, first in the New York tabloids and later as a reality television star. Attention, positive or negative, is its own reward. In the attention economy, Trump is what Wall Street might call a market maker.