The Trump Administration Is Run on Kink

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Cite

Last, J. V. (2026, October 16). The Trump Administration Is Run on Kink. The Bulwark. https://www.thebulwark.com/p/trump-administration-kink-tigers-eating-faces

Dated from the outlet's own feed. Check the original for its byline.

The Bulwark · collected 2026-10-16 · by Jonathan V. Last commentary

Quick Summary

This article criticizes President Trump for sharing graphic videos of animal attacks on social media, suggesting it reflects poorly on his judgment as the leader of the United States. Specifically, it highlights that he posted a video of an actual tiger mauling and then shared additional clips featuring both real and AI-generated footage of animals attacking humans, including one where Trump himself supposedly fights off a tiger. The author expresses concern about the implications of such actions for Trump's mental state and decision-making capabilities regarding national security.
Written locally by qwen2.5:14b on 2026-10-16, using this article's own text rather than the other coverage of the same event (that is the story summary below).

AI analysis runs on qwen2.5:14b, locally

Story summary

On October 10, 2026, President Donald Trump posted graphic footage online showing a mentally troubled man being killed by a tiger at the Yorkshire Wildlife Park in England. Within one minute, he shared an additional video montage featuring tigers and lions attacking people, with at least three of those clips reportedly generated by artificial intelligence. The incident has drawn significant criticism, with commentators questioning whether Trump was aware that some of these videos were fake. This event follows a series of controversies involving the Trump administration, including recent struggles for one of its officials, Katie Zacharia, who faced backlash on Fox & Friends and was humorously suggested to be transferred to the fictitious organization, Shield of the Americas, due to an alleged job opening there.

Written for “Trump Administration Controversies” on 2026-10-16, grounded in this article and the 0 other(s) covering the same event.
Why this leaning score
The article's own words the score was based on. Each is quoted verbatim and was checked against the article text before being stored, so you can find it in the original.
Reading Leans strongly left (beta estimate) Confidence high
Leaning: leans strongly left for article 85344 (high confidence, 4 verified quotes) · logged 2026-10-16

Story

📰 Trump Administration Controversies
Politics · 1 article(s) covering the same event.

Compared with similar articles

This article reads leans strongly left and hedges 4% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
Trump’s new press secretary has a history of pushing banana conspiracy theories different event · 95%
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 24% hedged 6 of 25 📰 publisher trust 59
“The articles discuss different aspects of Katie Zacharia's tenure as press secretary, with Article A focusing on her past beliefs and posts, while Article B discusses a more recent poor performance in interviews.”
Trump plucked Katie Zacharia from obscurity to be the new face of his White House. 15 excruciating minutes later, he was speechless: NICK ALLEN's devastating verdict on the press secretary's debut different event · 95%
Daily Mail
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 9% hedged 5 of 57 📰 publisher trust 64
“Article A describes Katie Zacharia's debut as White House press secretary, while Article B mentions her performance on TV shows and discusses unrelated events.”
Even MAGA are cringing over Katie Zacharia’s press secretary debut different event · 95%
The Independent
⚖️ Leans left further right than this 🔴 7% hedged 2 of 28 📰 publisher trust 59
“The articles discuss Katie Zacharia's performance as White House press secretary but focus on different aspects and timeframes, with Article B mentioning additional context about media coverage and political commentary that is not present in Article A.”
New White House press secretary faces more scrutiny – this time from Trump-friendly Fox News different event · 50%
The Guardian
⚖️ leaning not scored 🔴 0% hedged 0 of 23 📰 publisher trust 68
“The articles discuss Katie Zacharia's appearance on Fox News but describe different aspects of the scrutiny she faced.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
25
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
4%
1 of 25 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
Leans strongly left
expected in commentary, which argues a position · beta estimate
Publisher signals
not measured
these signals count newsroom corrections; Commentary has none to count
Outlets on this story
1
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-16 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

The Bulwark · 422 article(s) · 0 correction(s) detected
No corrections detected for this publisher. That may mean careful reporting, or simply that nothing has been checked.

Who wrote this

Jonathan V. Last
29 article(s) here · 1 carrying a prediction
🔮 Trump could just move her over to the Shield of the Americas, because one of the fake jobs at that fake organization just opened up.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · The Trump Administration Is Run on Kink
🔮 If you have questions for Tim, Sarah and JVL, send them to nextlevel@thebulwark.com and they may answer them on an upcoming episode of TNL.
2026-10-16 · assertive framing · So Many Bad Things
🔮 Texas might get a Democratic senator.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · Susan Collins Is the Living Worst
🔮 Will Sommer joins Sarah and JVL for a wild, wild show.
2026-10-07 · assertive framing · MAGA’s Racism is Blowing Up Its Own Coalition
🔮 Every once in a while a “journalist” will jump from the press side into a comms role in a presidential administration.
2026-10-06 · assertive framing · The Propagandist in the Press Pool
🔮 Bulwark LIVE: Charlotte featuring Pete Buttigieg & The Gang—will be live streamed on Sunday, October 18 starting at 7pm EDT.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Tale of Two Interviews
🔮 All I could think about was Barry Zuckerkorn cruising the city of industry.
2026-10-02 · assertive framing · Another Way AI Will Probably, Maybe Kill Us All
🔮 It will drop next Friday, October 9.
2026-10-01 · assertive framing · Triad Mailbag for October 9
🔮 Plus, why the Paxton campaign’s struggles could reveal deeper problems for Texas Republicans and the MAGA movement.
2026-09-30 · assertive framing · Paxton’s Leaked Trump Comments Are a SPECTACULAR Own Goal
🔮 Taken together they are signs that Donald Trump, his movement, and his party will not just be routed in the coming elections but that they may have lost control of events.
2026-09-29 · assertive framing · The Forces of Trumpism Are in Disarray
Also by Jonathan V. Last
So Many Bad Things
2026-10-16 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-12 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-09 · The Bulwark
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2026-10-07 · The Bulwark
Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.
All 29 articles by Jonathan V. Last →

Topics

America Fox & Friends JVL the Shield of the Americas the United States

Subjects

Trump PERSON · 5× America GPE · 2× JVL ORG · 2× the United States GPE · 2× Fox & Friends ORG · 1× Iran GPE · 1× Katie Zacharia PERSON · 1× Sean Hannity PERSON · 1× The Tiger King PERSON · 1× the Shield of the Americas ORG · 1×

Narrative

Only in this video Donald Trump feints a smack at the tiger, jumps up from his sitting position, chases the tiger across the grass, tackles it, forces it to submit, and finally stands up, raising the tiger on its hind legs to join him in a bro-hug.
framing: assertive · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-16
🔮 Trump could just move her over to the Shield of the Americas, because one of the fake jobs at that fake organization just opened up.
2026-10-16 · The Bulwark
The Trump Administration Is Run on Kink · assertive framing

Claims (25 extracted, 1 hedged)

Before we start: Katie Zacharia got turned inside out by Sean Hannity last night. asserted
Zacharia → start → Hannity
This morning she bombed on . . . Fox & Friends. asserted
she → bomb → Fox
At this point I legitimately don’t know if she’ll make it to Election Day. asserted
she → know → Day
Trump could just move her over to the Shield of the Americas, because one of the fake jobs at that fake organization just opened up. uncertain
one → move → organization
Three days ago the president of the United States posted a snuff film. asserted
president → post → film
On October 10 a mentally troubled man visiting the Yorkshire Wildlife Park climbed into a tiger’s enclosure. asserted
man → visit → enclosure
The tiger killed him. asserted
tiger → kill → him
Onlookers recorded the mauling. asserted
Onlookers → record → mauling
Somehow this video made it to the retinas of America’s commander-in-chief, who was, presumably, taking a short break from losing his war against Iran. asserted
who → make → Iran
President Trump then shared this footage with the world. asserted
Trump → share → world
One minute later—literally, a single minute—the president posted another video. asserted
president → post → video
This one was a medley of tigers and lions mauling people. asserted
one → maul → people
I wonder how Trump had this video so close at hand. asserted
Trump → wonder → hand
At least three of these five clips were AI-generated. asserted
three → generate → clips
Here’s another question: Did the president of the United States know that this video, which he had—miraculously! right there!—was half-fake? asserted
he → ’ → which
Time passed. asserted
Time → pass → ?
Seven hours later President Trump posted a third video. asserted
Trump → post → video
This one was entirely AI-generated. asserted
one → generate → ?
It began with Trump in the same position as the dead Englishman, sitting while a tiger pawed at him. asserted
tiger → begin → him
Only in this video Donald Trump feints a smack at the tiger, jumps up from his sitting position, chases the tiger across the grass, tackles it, forces it to submit, and finally stands up, raising the tiger on its hind legs to join him in a bro-hug. asserted
Trump → feint → hug
I hope you enjoyed this little excursion through the psyche of the man who controls America’s nuclear arsenal. asserted
who → hope → arsenal
But as we often say around here: Just wait. asserted
we → say → ?
It gets worse. asserted
It → get → ?
Because after you read the rest, you’ll never be able to unsee it. asserted
you → read → it
- Get more from the voices you follow — ad-free podcasts plus member-only shows like The Secret Podcast with Sarah Longwell and JVL. - Get closer to The Bulwark — member-only chats, comments, and early access to Bulwark LIVE tickets. asserted
you → get → tickets
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