Trump is playing with the press

Trump is playing with the press: Glenn Reynolds
"He's gaslighting them and they fall for it every time.
Why are the relations between Donald Trump and the press so bad? 
There are two reasons. 

• One is that Trump is a Republican, and the press consists overwhelmingly of Democrats. 
• But the other reason is that Trump likes it this way, because when the press is constantly attacking him over trivialities, it strengthens his position and weakens the press. 

Trump’s “outrageous” statements and tweets aren’t the product of impulsiveness, but part of a carefully maintained strategy that the press is too impulsive to resist.
The first thing to understand is that one of the changes going on with Trump generally is the renegotiation of various post-World War II institutional arrangements. 
One of those is the institutional arrangement involving the press and the White House. 
For decades, the press got special status because it was seen as both powerful and institutionally responsible. 
(And, of course, allied with the Democrats, who were mostly in charge of setting up those postwar institutional arrangements). 
Press quarters inside the White House and daily press briefings made it easy for everyone to get together on the story of the day.
Now those things have changed..."