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Disney is doubling its fleet of cruise ships. What that says about the company's strategy

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Disney is doubling its fleet of cruise ships. What that says about the company's strategy

When Cal State Fullerton professor Andi Stein set sail on her first Disney Cruise trip to the Bahamas for research more than a decade ago, she was on the fence about the idea. Unsure what it would be like voyaging with so many youngsters, she booked a short four-day journey.

By the time she came back, Stein was hooked. She booked another Disney cruise to the Mexican Riviera aboard the Disney Wonder with her mom about two months later. Her fandom has persisted since then. Last year, she took a seven-day cruise on the Disney Fantasy to the Caribbean.

“Disney really understands entertainment, and that carries through onto their cruise ships,” said Stein, who wrote a book about the Disney brand. “But they add the luxury experience that a cruise can provide that you’re not necessarily going to get in the theme parks.”

Walt Disney Co. is banking on winning over more vacationers like Stein, and it’s spending big bucks to do so.

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Disney plans to expand its five-ship fleet to eight ships by next year. By 2031, the company will have 13 ships worldwide, Disney experiences chairman Josh D’Amaro said in August at the D23 fan event in Anaheim.

“Expanding our fleet gives more people, in more parts of the world, the opportunity to experience a vacation at sea like only Disney can provide,” he said at the event.

The fact that the company is investing heavily in the cruise line indicates that it sees future opportunity there, said Brent Penter, associate analyst at investment banking firm Raymond James. He expects Disney’s capital expenditures to rise 27% to $7 billion companywide next year, an increase driven primarily by final payments for the new ships.

Penter said the ships are “billion-dollar investments,” but they’re worth the expense.

“It’s a business that’s still small enough that demand really outstrips supply,” he said. “We think they’re doing the smart thing by investing in this business so that they can serve a lot more of that demand.”

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Though still a relatively small business, the Disney Cruise Line is becoming an increasingly important part of the company’s financial picture, and is currently a bright spot as the firm’s parks segment begins seeing signs of softening demand.

The Burbank media and entertainment giant doesn’t break out financial results for the cruise line, but Raymond James estimates it brings in about $3 billion a year, comprising 3% of Disney’s overall 2023 revenue.

Disney in August said the cruise line, among other segments, had “improved results” compared to the prior year for Disney’s fiscal third quarter while its overall “experiences” division reported a 3% decrease in operating income. (That division includes the theme parks, merchandise and travel and leisure offerings such as the Aulani resort and spa in Hawaii.)

Disney is willing to take a short-term financial hit from its investment in an expanded fleet. The company warned analysts during its third-quarter earnings call that its fourth-quarter results would reflect pre-launch costs for two of its new ships.

“The business, even prior to COVID, … continues to generate double-digit return on investment for our shareholders,” said Thomas Mazloum, president of Disney’s New Experiences Portfolio and Disney Signature Experiences, which includes the cruise line. “With our expansions, we certainly expect similar, attractive returns from our future ships.”

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The cruise industry was growing before the pandemic, but took a big plunge once the virus spread. Demand for such tourist voyages have since rebounded. Last year’s global passenger volume was up 6.8% to 31.7 million, compared to 29.7 million in 2019, according to a May report from the Cruise Lines International Assn. trade group. By 2027, the number of cruise passengers is expected to reach nearly 40 million.

“It’s part of the total pent-up demand for tourism coming out of COVID,” said Andrew Coggins, Jr., a cruise industry analyst who teaches at Pace University’s Lubin School of Business. “The industry is very bullish about what’s coming up ahead.”

That’s why many cruise lines, ranging from major players such as Royal Caribbean and Carnival Corp., which is the biggest cruise parent company, to smaller operators like Disney, are building new ships and expanding their business.

For Disney, that’s meant adding new routes, particularly in the Asia market, and new onboard attractions. The company now represents about 5% of the total Caribbean market and 2.5% of the worldwide market, Mazloum said.

He called the cruise line a “significant contributor” to the experiences division, with a “long runway left.”

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After launching in 1998, the Disney cruise line has capitalized on the company’s virtuous cycle strategy of having parks and experiences fuel interest in its movies and TV shows, and vice versa.

Disney cruises offer themed experiences at sea that focus on characters from popular franchises such as Pixar, Star Wars and Marvel. Guests interact with Disney characters aboard, hear talks from animators, eat at themed restaurants, and watch Disney stage productions.

Disney views the cruise line as a “movable asset” that serves as an ambassador of the company’s brand, Mazloum said. The ship allows guests from all areas of the U.S. and world to interact with Disney characters outside of the parks and combines that experience with travel destinations, he said.

“This growing fleet … truly enables us to bring that experience — that Disney experience, that vacation experience — to new audiences and new places all around the world,” Mazloum said.

While some have groused that Disney theme park prices have gotten too expensive, the same hasn’t been said of the cruise line, according to a survey conducted this summer by Raymond James. A recent two-day cruise aboard the Disney Magic from Auckland, New Zealand, for one person started at $728.

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Only 31% of respondents said the cruises were overpriced, despite Disney cruises being about two to three times more expensive than that of competitors, according to the survey, which interviewed 20 Disney “superfans,” annual passholders, travel agents and local business owners. Though comments acknowledged that the cruises were expensive, respondents felt it was worth it because of the “all-in” price.

David Hahn of Dothan, Ala., has been on many cruises and said he was willing to pay the high price for Disney’s quality of service. He tells family members to choose a Disney cruise over a visit to the theme parks because it’ll be enjoyable with less stress.

For years, Hahn channeled his love for all things Disney through the company’s sprawling parks, visiting Walt Disney World hundreds of times. But as the magic wore off in recent years because of massive crowds and long lines, this 37-year-old waste hauling operations manager turned to cruises instead. (He also worked at Disney’s resorts for several years until 2020.)

He’s taken three Disney cruise trips so far, sailing to the Bahamas aboard Disney ships and in 2019 proposing to his now-wife, April, aboard the Disney Dream. The crew helped him get his room ready for the proposal, with rose petals, champagne and towels shaped into hearts and animals.

“When you go on the ship, you’re kind of secluded, you’re surrounded by all the Disney, the atmosphere, you get that feeling of great hospitality,” said Hahn. “You’re going to pay for it, of course, … but you’re going to get what you pay for.”

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Do I have to transfer my 401(k) money when I retire?

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Do I have to transfer my 401(k) money when I retire?

Dear Liz: When I retired, I had a small 401(k) with about $12,000 in it. Instead of rolling that money into an IRA, I took a distribution and paid taxes on it. I had no immediate need for the remaining funds, so eventually I opened a new IRA account and deposited the money.

I now realize I should have put it in a Roth IRA so I wouldn’t face double taxation on the money. This is the stupidest thing I’ve done in recent memory. Is there any legal mechanism I can use to get that money out and into a Roth without paying taxes the second time?

Answer: You made a mistake, but probably not the one you think.

You can’t contribute to an IRA — or a Roth IRA, for that matter — if you don’t have earned income. So if you’ve fully retired, you should contact your IRA administrator and let them know you need to withdraw your “excess contribution” as well as any earnings the contribution has made.

If you contributed this year, you have until your tax filing deadline — typically April 15, 2026 — to remove the funds without penalty. If you contributed in a previous year, you’ll typically face a 6% excise tax for each year the money remained in your account.

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Now, a warning about financial mistakes: They tend to become more common as we age. That can be incredibly unsettling, especially to do-it-yourselfers used to handling finances competently on their own. Retirement is a good time to start implementing some guardrails to protect ourselves and our money.

Hiring a tax pro would be a good first step. Anything to do with a retirement fund should be run past this pro first to make sure you’re following the tax rules.

Dear Liz: In response to a reader who asked about creating a will, you suggested options for low-cost online resources. That is great! But, I would encourage you to remind readers to designate beneficiaries on accounts and assets where that option is available.

While they should still have a will, many readers may not know that they can add beneficiaries to brokerage, checking, and savings accounts (in addition to IRA and retirement accounts) so that their assets will pass directly to the designated beneficiaries and not have to go through probate with the extra hassle, time and expense.

For those without a trust, designating beneficiaries may be the easiest way to pass on many of their assets. In California (and some other states), even houses may pass without probate with a transfer-on-death deed. Many readers may not know about the option to add beneficiaries, and you would do your readers a service by educating them about it.

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Answer: Anyone adding beneficiaries to accounts needs to be aware of some major potential drawbacks.

A big one involves settling the estate. If all available funds are transferred directly to beneficiaries, the person settling the estate may not have enough cash to do their job.

Beneficiary designations can also result in unintentionally unequal distributions if there’s more than one heir, and complications if the beneficiaries die first or aren’t changed appropriately as life circumstances change.
That’s not to say that beneficiary designations are the wrong choice, but they’re certainly not a one-size-fits-all option.

Dear Liz: Your recent column about advanced directives said that people could get a free version at PrepareForYourCare.org. I found there is a charge. Is this for all online directives?

Answer: Prepare is a free site supported by donations, grants and licensing agreements. If you were asked to pay, you either clicked the donate button or weren’t on the correct site.

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Liz Weston, Certified Financial Planner, is a personal finance columnist. Questions may be sent to her at 3940 Laurel Canyon, No. 238, Studio City, CA 91604, or by using the “Contact” form at asklizweston.com.

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President Trump Wants to Be Everywhere, All the Time

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President Trump Wants to Be Everywhere, All the Time

To understand how Mr. Trump has achieved this omnipresence, The New York Times reviewed the first 329 days of his second term, finding at least one instance each day when he attracted the public’s attention to himself and his actions.

The review encompassed more than 250 media appearances, more than 320 official appearances, and more than 5,000 Truth Social posts or reposts. The analysis shows that while Mr. Trump has lagged his predecessors in his number of official appearances, he has pursued a raft of innovative methods to force himself into the public consciousness on a daily, and sometimes even hourly, basis.

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The battery of activity started from the moment he was inaugurated, when he traveled from the Capitol Building to the Capital One Arena to publicly sign a flurry of executive orders.

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Since then, he has stayed in the public eye in part by doing things no president has ever done. High-stakes Oval Office meetings, like his negotiations with President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine, are held on-camera and broadcast live on global news networks. His Q.-and-A. sessions with reporters frequently last an hour or more.

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He regularly airs his opinions – on social media, in discursive asides at rallies – about idiosyncratic subjects that range widely across the zeitgeist, from Sydney Sweeney’s sexy denim ads to the redesigned logo of the Cracker Barrel restaurant chain to the mysterious fate of the aviator Amelia Earhart, who vanished over the Pacific Ocean in 1937.

And his engagement with the news media has soared well beyond the start of his first administration.

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Through Dec. 14, Mr. Trump took reporters’ questions on 449 occasions, compared with 223 during the same period of his first term. On average, Mr. Trump has interacted with journalists roughly twice a day, doubling his rate from 2017, according to Martha Joynt Kumar, a Towson University political scientist who tracks presidential press interactions. Mr. Trump limits which news outlets can ask questions at small events, but in sheer volume, he is the most media-accessible modern president, and far outpaces his predecessor, Joseph R. Biden Jr.

“Reporters will be in my office asking me for the president’s reaction to a breaking news story,” Karoline Leavitt, the White House press secretary, said in an interview. “And I’ll just say to them, ‘I don’t know, why don’t you ask him yourself in 30 minutes?’”

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Finding the Cameras

President Trump’s media appearances have soared this year, more than doubling both the Biden administration’s and those of his own first term.

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Note: Media appearances include interviews, opinion pieces, position papers, press conferences and informal Q.-and-A.s. Source: Roll Call Factbase. The New York Times

Many of his public moments go viral online, like his diatribe about restoring the name of the Washington Redskins, or the A.I.-generated video meme he posted of himself dribbling a soccer ball with Cristiano Ronaldo in the Oval Office. They take on a life of their own, rippling across social media and dissected and amplified by influencers and mass media platforms alike.

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The result is a president whose not-so-inner monologue is injected into our daily lives in myriad ways, when we are watching TV on the weekends or idly scrolling the web – a Greek chorus for our national narrative.

“He’s the most ubiquitous president ever,” said Douglas Brinkley, the presidential historian.

The media strategy aligns with his political strategy.

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Dating back to his years as an outspoken real estate developer and reality TV star, Mr. Trump has relished being unavoidable for comment. But at age 79, he has been outdoing his younger self. And there is a logic to his logorrhea.

Mr. Trump’s allies often speak of the political benefits of flooding the zone: pursuing so many policies, ideas, and dramatic restructurings of the normal ways of governance as to overwhelm the system. “All pedal, no brake,” as Stephen K. Bannon, Mr. Trump’s one-time adviser, has called it.

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“We joke internally that he is our ultimate director of communications,” Ms. Leavitt said. “He has incredible media instincts, and he is the final decision maker on all policy, and he has been in a ‘flood the zone,’ ‘do as much as possible’ mindset since he walked into the Oval Office on Jan. 20.”

All presidents benefit from the awesome news-making powers of the office, with its agenda-setting influence over a dedicated global press corps. But Mr. Trump has outstripped his predecessors in whipsawing the public’s attention onto matters small and large – and limiting the level of scrutiny that any one shocking remark or policy proposal receives.

“People can really only focus on a handful of things a day,” said Bill Burton, a deputy White House press secretary under former President Barack Obama. “This attention flood is working for Trump because he is able to do an extraordinary amount of executive actions and very little of it can get attention.”

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Or as Mr. Brinkley put it: “He plays to win the day, every day, around the clock.”

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His commentary takes on a life of its own.

One of Mr. Trump’s political assets is his instinct for virality.

With a natural feel for the web, Mr. Trump has a knack for amplifying wacky memes and pop culture curios that can drive days of online discourse. Sometimes, coverage of his offhand remarks or late-night social media posts can crowd out the more significant, norm-shattering changes he is making to American governance.

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Late one Friday night in May, the president posted an obviously A.I.-generated image of himself as the pope. It struck a nerve.

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Mr. Trump had already courted controversy days earlier, after the death of Pope Francis on April 21.

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“I’d like to be pope,” the president told reporters who asked about who should become the next pontiff. “That would be my number one choice.”

The comment disturbed some Catholics, who said the notion was crude and insensitive. That reaction seemed only to prompt Mr. Trump to double down, posting the A.I.-generated image to his Truth Social account days later. By the weekend it had become a cultural phenomenon, mocked on “Saturday Night Live” and called out by experts as an example of misleading A.I. content.

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After Mr. Trump posts the A.I. image …

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May 2

Trump posts A.I. image of himself as Pope

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… some Catholics were outraged, prompting a news cycle focused on the controversy …

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There is nothing clever or funny about this image, Mr. President. We just buried our beloved Pope Francis and the cardinals are about to enter a solemn conclave to elect a new successor of St. Peter. Do not mock us.

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May 3

NYS Catholic Conference says “do not mock us”

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May 3

“Saturday Night Live” covers fake image

May 3

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Vatican asked about image, declines to comment

May 4

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Cardinal Joseph Tobin of New Jersey criticizes image as “not good”

May 4

JD Vance defends Trump on X, calling it a joke

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… before Mr. Trump suggested he had nothing to do with it.

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5

Says “the Catholics loved it”

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Mr. Trump, who is not Catholic, had plenty of defenders, too. They said his commentary and the A.I. image were simply jokes, part of the president’s unique comedic style.

“As a general rule, I’m fine with people telling jokes and not fine with people starting stupid wars that kill thousands of my countrymen,” Vice President JD Vance, who is Catholic, wrote on X.

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In his quest for attention, the president is often aided by a cottage industry of right-wing influencers and activists who are primed to syndicate, reinforce and defend whatever content he pushes out each day. For this conservative media ecosystem, Mr. Trump’s messaging and commentary are the raw fuel that drives clicks, shares and views.

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On June 7, the president’s visit to a raucous U.F.C. fight – complete with a “Trump dance” entrance into the arena – generated an immediate spike in online interest, including about 50,000 posts on X. Five days later, when he promoted a “Trump gold card” visa, his announcement led to roughly 30,000 posts on X.

A barrage that distracts from bad news.

One pattern in Mr. Trump’s behavior: When his administration is faced with bad news, he launches a fusillade of distraction.

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This can take the form of outlandish, out-of-left-field claims about political opponents. Or he might weigh in on a pop culture subject far afield from Washington politics – from the ratings of late-night hosts like Seth Meyers to the physical appearance of a megastar like Taylor Swift.

The events of July 2025 offer a case in point.

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As the Jeffrey Epstein files returned to the news – along with speculation that Mr. Trump might appear in them – the president embarked on a breathtaking series of tangents. Mr. Trump claimed without evidence that former President Bill Clinton had bankrolled an effort by senior intelligence officials to frame him for a crime, mused about stripping the actress Rosie O’Donnell of her U.S. citizenship, and accused the singer Beyoncé of accepting millions of dollars to endorse his erstwhile rival, former Vice President Kamala Harris.

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On July 8, the F.B.I. said it would not declassify more Epstein files.

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July 8

F.B.I. publishes memo about Epstein files

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Over the following days, Mr. Trump seemed to lash out in every direction.

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10

Claimed intelligence officials tried to frame him

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10

Pushed to defund NPR and PBS

10

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Directed ICE to arrest protesters

12

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Threatened Rosie O’Donnell’s citizenship

15

Claimed Adam Schiff engaged in mortgage fraud

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On July 18, the Justice Department filed a request to unseal grand jury testimony about Mr. Epstein, again raising questions about Mr. Trump’s involvement. The president promptly lobbed insults at late-night talk show hosts, dismissed the Epstein affair as “fake news” and shared fresh claims about a supposed Obama administration plot to undermine him after the 2016 election.

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On July 18, the Department of Justice filed a request — later denied — to unseal grand jury testimony.

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July 18

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Request filed to unseal grand jury testimony

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Over the following days, Mr. Trump bounced from topic to topic.

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20

Criticized Washington Commanders name

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Obama himself manufactured the Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX. Crooked Hillary, Sleepy Joe, and numerous others participated in this, THE CRIME OF THE CENTURY!. Irrefutable EVIDENCE. A major threat to our Country!!!

21

Called the “Russia hoax” the “crime of the century”

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22

Called Epstein controversy “fake news”

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22

Criticized Kimmel and Fallon

24

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Criticized Federal Reserve chairman

On July 25, The Wall Street Journal published a major scoop: The paper had unearthed a risqué birthday letter that Mr. Trump had apparently written to Mr. Epstein in 2003. Mr. Trump responded with his attack on Beyoncé and revived his threat to revoke the broadcast licenses of TV networks. Then he announced the imminent construction of an enormous gilded ballroom at the White House, at a cost of $200 million. (He has since revised the cost upward to $400 million.)

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Asked if there was a deliberate strategy to distract from negative news, Ms. Leavitt noted that every administration seeks to minimize unhelpful headlines.

“Yes, there have been times in which we’ve tried to do that, but also often it just happens naturally, because the president is willing to weigh in on so many subjects,” she said. “Sometimes it’s really not deliberate. It’s just him speaking his mind on whatever news cycle or news story is brought to him in that moment.”

He has added tricks to his arsenal.

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Mr. Trump’s devotion to Truth Social mirrors the hair-trigger Twitter habit of his first term; on one recent December evening, he posted 158 times between 9 p.m. and midnight. And he has continued to appear on Fox News with certain preferred hosts.

But this year, he has added to his media arsenal by appearing in many more public spaces that fall outside of a president’s typical itinerary.

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Mr. Trump has stopped by a Washington Commanders N.F.L. game, popped up in the New York Yankees locker room, attended the Ryder Cup golf tournament and the men’s tennis final at the U.S. Open, sat ringside at numerous U.F.C. fights, and traveled to the Daytona 500. He is the first sitting president to attend a Super Bowl. When FIFA staged the Club World Cup final in New Jersey, Mr. Trump not only attended, but joined the winning team onstage for the trophy ceremony.

The net effect is a sense of inescapability, that no corner of American life remains Trump-free – which itself amounts to a potent expression of presidential authority and command. “His power, in part,” said Mr. Burton, the former Obama aide, “comes from the attention that people give him, or that he forces on them.”

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Can it ever be too much?

In the fall of 2009, President Barack Obama appeared on David Letterman’s talk show, gave interviews to CNBC and Men’s Health magazine, and made the rounds of all five major network Sunday shows. Washington was abuzz about whether he was overexposed.

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That debate sounds quaint today. But the question of whether a president can be too visible remains open.

“The public is being desensitized” to Mr. Trump’s omnipresence, argued Mr. Brinkley, the historian. “It starts becoming blather. The enemy for Trump isn’t Democrats; it’s the public being bored with the show.”

Ms. Leavitt said that if there was a risk to his ubiquity, “President Trump would not be president right now.” She added: “He is a businessman who speaks his mind and tells it like it is, and sometimes people don’t like that. But obviously the vast majority of our country does, or else he wouldn’t be in this office.”

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During Mr. Trump’s first term, the public eventually tired of his frenzied pace. And in some ways, Mr. Trump appears to be slowing down physically as he approaches his 80th birthday in June (which he will celebrate in part by staging a nationally broadcast U.F.C. fight on the White House lawn). He has appeared to doze at some Oval Office meetings, and he is holding fewer formal public events than he did at this point in 2017.

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Still, Mr. Trump and his team have embraced the everywhere-all-at-once nature of modern media. Average Americans, busy with work and family, do not tune in for daytime news conferences or Cabinet meetings. And 6:30 p.m. newscasts and local newspapers are no longer the primary vessels by which Americans learn about their commander-in-chief.

Instead, politics now suffuses our lives as a kind of ambient noise – via TikTok videos, social media posts, YouTube talk shows and family Facebook messages – never fully separate from our leisure pursuits. “Right now the game is attention, in terms of what’s culturally breaking through,” Mr. Burton said. “The fact that so much message exists is the point.”

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Mr. Trump has both propelled this merging of culture and politics, and continues to strategically exploit it. In December, he became the first president to personally host the Kennedy Center Honors, comparing himself onstage to Johnny Carson and musing that he would do a better job than Jimmy Kimmel.

“This is the greatest evening in the history of the Kennedy Center,” Mr. Trump told the crowd. “Not even a contest. There has never been anything like it.”

His performance will air in prime time on CBS on Dec. 23.

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Photo and video sources: Graham Dickie/The New York TimesDoug Mills/The New York TimesRoll Call Factba.sePBSMauro Pimentel/Agence France-Presse — Getty ImagesKenny Holston/The New York TimesThe New York TimesAnnabelle Gordon/ReutersEric Lee/The New York TimesFoxCheriss May for The New York TimesWilfredo Lee/Associated PressMargo Martin, via StoryfulMark Abramson for The New York TimesGlobal NewsAl Drago/Getty ImagesFox NewsDave Sanders for The New York TimesPete Marovich for The New York TimesTed Shaffrey/Associated Press Show all

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Why is Trump’s media company getting involved with nuclear power?

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Why is Trump’s media company getting involved with nuclear power?

President Trump’s media company is merging with a nuclear fusion energy firm in a $6-billion deal aimed at generating more power amid growing demand from power-hungry artificial intelligence data centers.

The merger between Trump Media & Technology and TAE Technologies could lead to one of the world’s first publicly traded fusion energy companies, the two companies said Thursday.

What is TAE Technologies?

TAE Technologies is a private company based in Foothill Ranch, Calif. It has been raising funds for commercial-scale nuclear fusion, a method of energy production that supporters say could revolutionize access to electricity. Founded in 1998, the company has built and operated five fusion reactors and raised more than $1.3 billion.

Fusion uses the same process that powers the sun to produce potentially limitless energy. Experts say it hasn’t been achieved on a large scale because the process is volatile and expensive. TAE is trying to develop the technology needed to reduce the size, cost and complexity of fusion reactors.

“Our talented team, through its commitment and dedication to science, is poised to solve the immense global challenge of energy scarcity,” TAE Chief Executive Michl Binderbauer said in a statement. “Recent breakthroughs have prepared us to… commercialize our fusion technology.”

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What is the political history of Truth Social?

Truth Social was launched in 2022 as Trump created an alternative to mainstream social media, which was increasingly restricting and blocking his posts and profiles, as well as those of his allies and supporters. It began trading on the Nasdaq stock exchange through a 2024 merger with a special purpose acquisition company.

While most social media platforms have lifted restrictions on Trump’s posts, he still primarily posts on his own platform.

Though Trump and companies he is associated with control more than a 40% stake in the company, much of his investment is managed by others to avoid a conflict of interest during his term as president. Some analysts suggest his indirect association with a new company in a highly regulated industry could also lead to issues.

TAE will need significant investment and regulation to advance, which makes Trump’s ties a major conflict, Richard Painter, a former White House ethics lawyer in the George W. Bush administration, told the Associated Press.

“He’s jumping into this industry just like he jumped into cryptocurrency a couple of years ago,” Painter said. “Just as the United States government is gonna get all involved in it. And it’s so obvious that there’s a huge conflict of interest.”

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Trump Media shares, which had fallen more than 80% from their 2024 peak, have skyrocketed around 50% since the deal was announced.

The company now has a market value of more than $4.5 billion.

Why are the companies merging?

The parent company of Trump’s social media site, Truth Social, Trump Media & Technology, previously had little to do with energy production. The company agreed to merge with Alphabet-backed TAE Technologies, with the aim of paving the way for easier access to abundant electricity.

The merger aims to help both companies diversify and raise more money.

It is an attempt to combine Trump Media’s “significant access to capital” with TAE’s “leading fusion technology,” the companies said in a release.

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They plan to begin construction in 2026 on the first-ever utility-scale fusion power plant.

“Fusion power plants are expected to provide economic, abundant and dependable electricity that would help America win the AI revolution,” the release said.

The boom in popularity of AI chatbots such as ChatGPT has created a seemingly insatiable new demand for power.

The Georgia Institute of Technology says modern AI data centers use as much electricity as a small city. As AI models grow, they demand even more power.

What are the terms of the deal?

The all-stock transaction announced this week values each share of TAE Technologies at $53.89, although it is a private company. Trump Media has agreed to provide $200 million in cash to TAE upon closing, expected in mid-2026.

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When the merger is complete, TAE and Trump Media shareholders will each own about 50% of the combined company.

Trump Media will be the holding company for TAE, TAE Power Solutions and TAE Life Sciences.

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