How Donald Trump Gained the Trust of His Voters Through Propaganda

Propaganda is information used by politicians and governments to portray an idea or to persuade people in a misleading and biased way. The creator of the propaganda focuses on the side that is beneficial for him and usually ignores the negative side. It is commonly in a poster form but it can also be broadcasted through television and internet.

The propaganda I have chosen is based on USA President Donald Trump’s election campaign. There are many reasons why I chose this propaganda, one being that Donald Trump is the president of the world’s largest economy. He caused massive change in multiple facets, such as politics, military and trade. Furthermore, he is the most controversial world leader due to his volatile political agendas. He is either the most hated person by many or the most liked person in the world.

In 2016, during the US federal election, Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were both fighting for presidency. Although Trump faced serious controversy for his opinion on race and immigration, he still became president while losing the nationwide popular vote, in fact he is one of the only people in US history to do that. He is also the only person in US history to have no previous political service or military experience.

During the election, Trump used tactics like slandering and propagating false statements about his opponents to win the public’s popularity. He owned many media outlets which he used to his advantage to disseminate simulated propaganda about his promises. As he is a billionaire businessman, he has unlimited resources which he used to basically buy his presidency.

In this election propaganda poster, Trump focused on civil rights and racial discrimination. He mentioned in his propaganda, “I believe we need a civil rights agenda for our time…” and “I will not rest until children of every colour in this country are fully included in the American Dream.” He gave out promises to American that after winning the election, he will make changes to improve civil rights and work hard to reduce racial discrimination. The words ‘agenda’ and ‘American Dream’ show that Trump is really motivated to make change. The highlighted parts of his quote further emphasise his passions.

The picture of him holding an African-American child’s hand portrays his kind-heartedness towards every single child no matter their skin colour or race. The smile on the child’s face shows the child’s approval of Donald Trump as the president. The intention of using the US flag as a background is to build up more connection between him and the country as a whole, it also depicts his loyalty to the American public. Other than his promises, the propaganda poster also used memorable slogans and hyperbole. ‘MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!’ is the slogan trump used in every speech, debate and propaganda he was part of. The poster is exaggerated as Trump is definitely not the only person that can make America great.

Overall, Trump’s poster is effective in communicating his agendas to the American public and gaining their trust. The poster built a connection between him and every single person in America. At the end of the day he was successful as he won the election. However, personally I am not persuaded by his silver tongue. His promises seem unrealistic as civil rights and racial discrimination are not problems that can easily be fixed. In addition, Trump has no actual experience in politics, this adds to his unreliability. All in all, he became the US President.