"My attitude toward Syria and Assad has changed very much. I was sitting at the table — we had the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake — and President Xi was given that information before we started the cake."
On April 4, 2017, a chemical attack in Idlib killed dozens. Two days later Trump launched Tomahawk missiles at a Syrian airbase — reversing his explicit campaign position against Syria intervention. He told Fox Business that images of dead children changed his policy in 48 hours. He also described telling Xi Jinping about the strikes over dessert at Mar-a-Lago. The press called the missile strike 'presidential.'
The chocolate cake anecdote was covered as Trump being Trump. The Syria reversal was covered as Trump 'growing into the presidency.' Nobody asked who compiled the briefing, who selected those images, or who decided when to present them. The press treated emotional manipulation of a president as a feel-good story about him finally caring about something.
Trump told you exactly what changed his mind — photographs. He told you how fast — 48 hours. He told you he briefed China before striking Russia's client state. These are not small details. A president saying images reversed his foreign policy against his campaign promises is a description of how a first-term president gets managed. The press found it charming.