Create a White House office similar to the Press Office but dedicated purely to Podcasts.
Podcasts represent a powerful new medium for direct communication with the public especially among younger listeners. In the 2024 election cycle podcasters like Joe Rogan, Mark Calaway, and Lex Friedman were extremely influential in spreading President Trump’s message to their broad and eclectic audiences. While the traditional Press Secretary performs a valuable role in communicating with traditional media, the White House should have a Podcast Secretary and Podcast office to focus solely on this medium.
Influential podcasters can be encouraged to interact with White House staff communicating their own ideas about policies and how to present them to voters increasing their own personal investment in the success of White House reforms while the Podcast Office can send them daily briefs with talking points and asking for feedback. The Podcast Secretary and high level office staff can appear as guests more regularly on a broader range of shows spreading the administration’s message while increasing the profile of the shows on which they appear such that the podcast personalities will feel invested in the process and offer a more positive, if at times critical, narrative regarding White House initiatives. Critical feedback will be of greater value as it will illuminate concerns about specific policy proposals.
The podcast office can send frequent reports to the President keeping him abreast of the “buzz” in the podcast world. This will help inform the President about messaging. The office can also recommend to the President and cabinet members occasional podcast appearances, as their schedule permits, so they can speak directly to these audiences.
Connecting the President and high level administration personalities directly to these audiences through these podcast shows will broaden his appeal and build support for his proposals.
The current structure of the White House Press Office is insufficient to this task and therefore, a new Podcast Secretary and Podcast