Once again, the political world tilts toward the immense gravitational pull of a former president, running for reelection, facing indictment, and confronting multiple other serious criminal investigations.

There has never been a political figure in American history like Donald Trump — perhaps one of the few truths on which both his backers and detractors can agree. Even the old phrase “love him or hate him” seems inadequate in describing the level of the bifurcated passions he engenders.

There is no doubt Trump thrives on attention, and he has a carnival barker’s knack for making sure the spotlight is always shining on him. As a former president and de facto leader of one of our two major political parties, he is newsworthy. Yet much of what he does and says is meant only to garner attention for attention’s sake. He is eager to do this at any cost, often by demeaning our political discourse.

This dynamic presents a particular challenge for the press. And it will get more complicated in the days, weeks, and months ahead as Trump’s fate steams onward on two parallel but distinct tracks: one political, the other legal.

How do you find the Goldilocks approach to coverage? Not too much, not too little, but just right?

How do you bear witness to the outrages and injustices without allowing him to suck the oxygen out of everything else to which we should be paying attention?

What is the tradeoff between reporting and amplifying?

There is a school of thought that the press’s elevation of Trump in the primaries and general election of 2016 played a big part in paving the path to his presidency. The amount of free coverage he received was unprecedented. The rallies shown live on cable news with no editing and little real-time context or perspective to the lies and invective he was spewing felt more like campaign ads than responsible coverage.

Once Trump was president, he was impossible to ignore. His statements, no matter how false or unhinged, carried the weight of America’s chief executive. And he certainly drove ratings. Those who loved him wanted to bask in his greatest hits. Many of those who despised him wanted to make sure their worst fears were documented and acknowledged as he swung a wrecking ball at our national order.

Trump is bombastic, outrageous, dangerous, and disingenuous. He lies, sneers, and stokes division. He threatens the very fabric of our national identity. He has fomented a cult-like status, undermined the rule of law, and debased the peaceful transfer of power.

He’s also incapable of going away. And now the drama that swirls around him like a Category 5 hurricane is only going to get worse.

In our own distant corner of the media landscape, we wrestle with how to cover Trump.

How do you approach a newsletter called Steady when the era's dominant political figure (yes, even more so than the current president) embodies the antithesis of the word?

We understand that for many of you the very definition of Steady means not having to read or hear Trump’s name with frequency. Wallowing in what he is doing on a daily basis is not productive. On these points we largely agree.

But at the same time, we believe it would be a mistake to downplay the danger he could wreak on this nation. He is running for president again, and should he win, which is well within the realm of the possible, his second term would probably make his first one seem restrained.

The death knells of many democracies, the transitions from freedom to autocracy, have been initiated at the ballot box. Many autocrats have been endorsed by a popular vote. Voters can get restless, angry, and scared. They can also become complacent, disengaged, or apathetic.

Autocrats know how to feed off both passion and passivity. Then, once installed, they find ways to undermine the governmental checks and balances that would otherwise prevent their worst abuses. Democracy withers, sometimes gradually and with little notice. It is no coincidence that many Trump supporters celebrate Hungary’s prime minister, Viktor Orbán, who followed this despot playbook to turn the country into his fiefdom.

As part of the Steady balance, we intend to continue to confront what Trump is doing and what he represents. It may get repetitive at times, and exhausting. He thrives on making his opposition overwhelmed and weary.

The 2020 election was a decisive loss for Trump, but it wasn’t a decisive end to Trumpism. Neither, likely, will be indictments or the criminal peril that surrounds him.

Trump is still here, and the threat he poses still looms large. As such, we must find ways to cover him without letting him dictate the terms of the coverage.

We hope we can achieve the right balance and look to you, our valued members of the Steady community, for guidance on how we are doing.