The Thursday morning network-news shows were reluctant to offer any credit to President Trump for the Dow Jones Industrial Average going over 22,000 on Wednesday. But what about the national newspapers on Thursday morning? Here’s a look at the headlines, which all skipped Trump:
-- The Wall Street Journal, top of the gront page: “Dow Hits 22000, Powered by Apple.”
-- The New York Times, bottom of front page: “Wall Street, Climbing Sharply, Skips Washington’s ‘Soap Opera’.”
-- The Washington Post, bottom of front page: “Dow’s bulls on parade hurdle 22,000.”
-- USA Today, bottom of front page: “Is it too late to invest in record-setting Dow?”
USA Today deserves some kind of Avoidance Award, for their article by Adam Shell never, ever used the word “Trump.” It was an advice article on whether it’s too late to enter the stock market. Another Adam Shell article at the top of McPaper’s Money section skipped over Trump until paragraph 17, when Shell noted: “The delay in getting many of President Trump’s agenda items passed through Congress could weigh on stocks, as a lack of tax cuts and infrastructure spending could curtail growth, [strategist Lindsey] Bell adds.”
In the Times article, reporter Nelson D. Schwartz began: "Despite the disorder in Washington -- with a revolving door at the White House and roadblocks on Capitol Hill -- Wall Street and corporate America are booming."
Trump's name surfaced in paragraph 5: "The initial stock market rally that followed Mr. Trump's victory in November -- the so-called Trump bump -- was fueled by optimism among investors that long-sought action on tax reform and infrastructure spending might finally be at hand. Few analysts are so sanguine now, especially after Republicans could not agree last month on how to repeal the Affordable Care Act after years of promising to do so. If anything, simplifying the tax code or investing in new roads and bridges seems farther out of reach than ever."
The Post emphasized this was a trend since "early 2009," and ran a graph starting in 2012. Above the graph was the sentence "The Dow's long rally has intensified since Donald Trump's election." Reporters Thomas Heath, Heather Long, and Alex Schiffer spent more time on Trump's effect on the markets and noted "it has played a role in boosting the political fortures of Prestignt Trump, who on Wednesday once again took credit for the markets' performance."
It should be expected that the Journal would lead with the Dow Jones news since the Journal is owned by Dow Jones (purchased by Rupert Murdoch). Right under the headline was this bold text: "The Dow Jones Industrial Average on Wednesday surged part its fourth 1,000-point milestone since Donald Trump was elected president in November. Based on data going back 40 years, the gain marks the second-fastest 20% rise in the Dow following a presidential election."
The Journal story by Akane Oatani and Ben Eisen was less sanguine: "President Trump's proposed mix of tax cuts, infrastructure spending, and deregulation was intended to revive the economy, but some of his agenda has been stalled. Optimism about a pro-growth fiscal policy has waned."
