By Jim Mishler | Wednesday, 24 December 2025 02:28 PM EST
Former Trump campaign aide Rick Gates said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump is now waging a critical battle with many large media outlets.
Gates stated that some media outlets have unfairly and untruthfully sought to undermine Trump. “And so he’s going to continue to fight and believes this is a virtuous fight,” Gates added.
He admitted this is new territory for a president to be at odds in this fashion with so many media outlets, but said Trump has no choice. “I think the president believes he has to fight this fight, right, because nobody has been able to do it. Nobody has even taken on … the left-wing media.”
Gates emphasized that Trump isn’t just fighting for his policies, he’s fighting for the truth. “And this matters,” Gates said. “I mean, because the messaging, as we’re seeing, if you take something like the Epstein files, there is fake information, there is information that the Democrats are going to try to weaponize, and it’s not accurate. And that’s getting out to the mainstream American public.”
Gates asserted that if Trump does not take a stand for the truth, no one else has the capacity to do so on his behalf. “And that’s exactly what the president’s fighting against. He’s fighting against the left-wing media’s attempts to distort, manipulate, and use news in a way that is nefarious or not honest.”
He said that until media figures abandon their assaults on Trump and the truth, the president is left with only one option: continue taking his story and what he calls the truth directly to the nation through rallies and by actively posting on social media.
In the past, Gates noted, national conservative leaders have failed to push back against left-leaning media reporting, but that has changed with Trump. “The Republican Party historically has not really taken on or really not fought well. Now you’re actually seeing a president who, honestly, has been firsthand a victim.”
A McLaughlin & Associates poll released Tuesday asserts that Trump’s messaging is critically important and that, to ensure Americans get the truth, he will need to avoid “big media,” increase social media messaging, and hold in-person rallies nationwide.
