# Post x_291573144349732865

- Post ID: `x_291573144349732865`
- Platform: X (Twitter)
- Posted: 2013-01-16T15:50:29.000Z (UTC)
- Deleted: no
- Repost: no
- Canonical URL: https://trump.fm/post/x_291573144349732865
- Analysis page: https://trump.fm/post/x_291573144349732865/analysis
- Audio narration: https://static.trump.fm/audio/x_291573144349732865.mp3 (a synthesized voice reading the post text, not a recording)

## Post text

> Journal News readership is already down 50 percent over the years.

## Engagement

- Likes: 12
- Reposts: 38
- Replies: 0
- Views: unknown
- Metrics collected: 2026-01-31T23:43:13.311Z (UTC)

# Analysis

_Machine-generated by trump.fm on 2026-03-22T09:33:51.345Z (UTC): a model's reading of this post, not his words. Its psychological terms describe the language, not a clinical assessment of him._

## Analysis: Journal News Readership Attack

This post continues Trump's campaign against The Journal News, which had published an interactive map of gun permit holders in Westchester and Rockland counties (NY) in December 2012, following Sandy Hook. The previous post in the sequence explicitly called for lawsuits against the paper. This post shifts to a different attack vector — asserting the paper's declining readership as evidence of irrelevance/punishment.

### Context
The Journal News (a Gannett-owned paper in the lower Hudson Valley) faced intense backlash from gun rights advocates after publishing names and addresses of pistol permit holders. Trump positioned himself as a vocal critic, aligning with the pro-gun backlash.

### Authorship
Posted at 10:50 AM ET (Trump almost certainly in New York in January 2013). Business hours, brief but punchy — could be either Trump or aide. The style is consistent with Trump's own voice: short declarative statement, no hashtags, attacking a media target. The previous posts in the sequence show a mix of brief replies and this thematic thread, suggesting Trump was actively tweeting.

### Psychological Function
This post serves as a devaluation attack — rather than engaging with the substance of the gun permit controversy, Trump attacks the paper's viability. The implicit message: the paper is already dying, so its journalism is irrelevant. This is a classic narcissistic devaluation pattern where the target's worth is diminished rather than the argument addressed.

### Rhetorical Note
The "50 percent" figure is unverified and likely approximate/exaggerated, though newspaper readership broadly declined during this period.

## Fact Verification

| Claim | Verdict | Evidence |
|-------|---------|----------|
| "Journal News readership is already down 50 percent over the years" | **Half True** | Newspaper readership broadly declined significantly in this era, but the specific 50% figure for the Journal News is unverified and likely approximate. Gannett papers did experience substantial circulation declines. |

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Authorship Analysis

**Uncertain** (score: 60%)

### Indicators

- Business hours posting (10:50 AM ET)
- Short declarative style consistent with Trump
- Part of active tweeting sequence
- No polish or formatting suggesting aide

## Psychological Profile

### State

**Grandiose State**

**Trigger:** Preemptive Attack (Journal News gun permit map publication)

Sentiment: -0.40

### Clinical

**Malignant Narcissism:**
- Narcissistic: 30%
- Antisocial: 10%
- Paranoid: 10%
- Sadism: 20%

**Defense Mechanisms:**
- devaluation (immature)
- acting out (immature)

**Cognitive Complexity:**
- Complexity: 20%

**Parasocial Techniques:**
- shared grievance against media

## Fact Checks (1)

_The model's verdicts from 2026-03-22._

> Journal News readership is already down 50 percent over the years

**HALF TRUE**

Newspaper readership broadly declined significantly in this era, but the specific 50% figure for the Journal News is unverified and likely approximate. Gannett papers did experience substantial circulation declines.

Overall Veracity: 50%

## Tags

- media-attack (80%)
- gun-debate (60%)
- devaluation (70%)

## That day

_From trump.fm's machine-generated digest of the day, not his words._

**Routine Self-Promotion Punctuated by Vindictive Return to Bill Maher Feud**

A routine day of self-promotion and fan engagement, anchored by Celebrity Apprentice plugs and brief commentary on the day's news. The sharpest moment came when Trump returned to his ongoing feud with Bill Maher, escalating from gloating about Maher's silence to digging up an old clip of Maher being fired from ABC and adding dehumanizing language. He also weighed in on Lance Armstrong's Oprah confession and the Journal News gun permit controversy, positioning himself as the wiser strategist in both cases. The overall mood was confident and self-satisfied, with only a brief flash of vindictiveness breaking the calm.

Full digest for 2013-01-16: https://trump.fm/date/2013-01-16/analysis

## Citation

- APA: Trump, D. J. (2013, January 16). Journal News readership is already down 50... [Social media post]. X (Twitter). trump.fm. https://trump.fm/post/x_291573144349732865
- MLA: Trump, Donald J. "Journal News readership is already down 50 percent over the..." X (Twitter), 16 Jan. 2013. trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_291573144349732865. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.
- Chicago: Donald J. Trump, "Journal News readership is already down 50 percent over the...," X (Twitter), January 16, 2013, archived at trump.fm, https://trump.fm/post/x_291573144349732865.

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