The One Thing Trump Can't Buy

The culture keeps rejecting him.

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There is a jealousy at the heart of Donald Trump and the MAGA movement that I find endlessly fascinating. More than anything else, they crave cultural relevance. They want to be seen as cool, influential, and admired in the broader culture, but the conservative movement in this country simply doesn’t have that kind of juice—because they’re dorks.

And that’s why Trump and his movement feel the need to insert themselves into everything.

Yesterday, Trump went to the NBA Finals to see the Knicks. The Knicks were on an incredible run, and there were a bunch of genuinely fun storylines surrounding the team. As a sports fan, I’ve especially enjoyed the story of a professional wrestler named Danhausen whose character is a demon that can curse people and who supposedly “uncursed” the Knicks before their winning streak. Sports are fun because of weird little stories like that.

But Trump couldn’t just let the day belong to the teams and the fans. The most corrupt and least popular president I’ve seen in my lifetime needed to make himself part of the story. And the result was predictable. Instead of the focus being on the game, the attention shifted to Trump. Security became a massive operation. Fans dealt with additional disruptions. The conversation became about him, and the Knicks lost, I would argue, in part because of that.

There he was, sitting behind layers of security and glass, eating French fries and pretending to be part of a culture that has never really embraced him.

When cameras showed him, he got booed. As he should be.

People are angry. They’re angry because he promised to make life more affordable and failed. He promised to challenge the corrupt Washington establishment and became the corrupt Washington establishment. He promised transparency. He promised to release the Epstein files. He promised not to drag the country into another forever war. Instead, people look around and see rising costs, political chaos, regressive and hateful politics, and a president more interested in his own wild fancies than solving problems.

Which brings me back to the cultural relevance issue.

It wasn’t that long ago that Barack and Michelle Obama showed up at the NBA All-Star Game and received overwhelming applause. And that’s the kind of thing that drives Trump absolutely crazy. He wants that admiration. He wants people to genuinely love him the way they love figures who have earned public respect.

But the difference is that admiration for Trump has to be manufactured.

He gets it on friendly media outlets like Fox News. He gets it from cabinet members who seem obligated to praise him every time a camera is present. He gets it in controlled environments where criticism is unwelcome. But when he enters spaces that aren’t built around him, reality tends to intrude.

That’s why the boos bother him so much.

For all of Trump’s wealth and power, he’s never escaped the fact that what he’s always wanted to be is a respected New York socialite and cultural figure. He wants the acceptance. He wants the invitations. He wants to be viewed as one of the people who matter.

And despite becoming president twice, he still can’t reach what he actually wants.

The same thing is true of the broader MAGA movement. They’re constantly fighting culture wars because they’re obsessed with cultural relevance. They’re angry about movies, television shows, athletes, celebrities, corporations, and social media trends. They’re perpetually upset that the culture keeps moving in directions they don’t like.

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Whether it’s complaining about LGBTQ representation, declaring war on entertainment companies, or insisting they’re about to create a parallel culture that will replace the existing one, the pattern is always the same. They’re trying to force cultural influence into existence, and it isn’t happening (ask Spencer Pratt!).

But influence doesn’t work that way.

People gravitate toward ideas, movements, artists, and leaders who create something compelling. What strikes me about MAGA is how little it actually creates. There’s no real vision for the future. No inspiring idea about how to improve people’s lives. No serious plan for expanding opportunity or improving economic security for ordinary people.

Instead, the movement is largely built around grievance, nostalgia, and resentment. It wants to drag the country backward to an imagined past while offering very little for the future.

And that’s why so much of it feels hollow.

The truth is that cultural relevance can’t be demanded. It can’t be legislated. It can’t be forced through outrage campaigns or social media algorithms. People either connect with what you’re offering or they don’t.

That’s why Trump getting booed at a major sporting event matters more than many of his supporters would like to admit. It represents the gap between how he sees himself and how much of the public sees him.

So if you’re angry about the state of the country today, remember this: Donald Trump is probably far more bothered by those boos than he’ll ever publicly admit. Because beneath all the power, all the money, and all the constant demands for attention is someone who desperately wants admiration and still can’t figure out why he isn’t getting it.

And eventually, we have to move beyond all of this. We have to get back to solving actual problems instead of feeding one man’s ego. We have to focus on making life more affordable, expanding opportunity, and building a future people can believe in.

That’s the work that matters. And it’s the work waiting for us once this era finally comes to an end.