Trump returns to CNN: Five things to watch

An explosive piece of political theater is set for Wednesday evening, when former President Trump appears at a town hall event televised by CNN — a day after he was found liable in a civil trial of sexual abuse.

Trump and the network have been fierce foes in recent years. While president, Trump even went so far as to send a tweet featuring a modified image of him body-slamming a person with the CNN logo superimposed on their head. He also retweeted a cartoon of a train hitting a CNN reporter.

The network, for its part, was seen by some as having damaged its brand with gratuitous or petty attacks on Trump or vainglorious performances from some of its reporters and pundits.

Wednesday evening’s broadcast is virtually guaranteed to draw a large audience, especially with the attention on Tuesday’s verdict. Beyond that, what are the big things to watch?

What will Trump say about the E. Jean Carroll verdict?

As if the town hall was not set to be dramatic enough, it now comes on the heels of a new bombshell: the decision by a New York jury to hold Trump liable for the sexual abuse of columnist E. Jean Carroll in the mid-1990s, and for defaming her in his denial of the incident.

The jury awarded $5 million in damages against Trump, even as it did not find him liable for the most serious charge — that he raped Carroll.

A statement from Trump’s campaign reacted by blaming “a never-ending witch-hunt” and a “bogus case … targeting President Trump.”

Trump himself took to social media to complain about a verdict he deemed a “disgrace.” He also contended that the nine-person jury, sitting in the city where he was born and has spent most of his life, was “from an anti-Trump area which is probably the worst place in the U.S. for me to get a fair ‘trial.’”

Trump might have plenty more to say about the matter before he appears at the town hall, but a repeat of his previous attacks on Carroll’s character seems at least plausible — as well as politically risky, given how female voters in particular may react.

CNN would also have to push back immediately on certain allegations from the former president in order to avoid being seen as cosigning defamation.

Will Trump play nice with CNN, or lambaste it?

Trump has always gained political advantage with conservative voters with the sheer ferocity of his attacks upon the media.

Now, the question is whether he will continue that approach with CNN or adopt a friendlier demeanor.

Perhaps predictably, most signs favor the former, setting up the possibility CNN and other pundits have once again been fooled by rumors of a “new” Trump.

In a TruthSocial post Tuesday, Trump promoted his appearance by saying that CNN was “rightfully desperate to get those fantastic (TRUMP!) ratings once again.”

The former president did include a flimsy olive branch, suggesting that the event could “be the beginning of a New & Vibrant CNN, with no more Fake News.”

But then, he added, “or it could turn into a disaster for all, including me.”

Beyond Trump’s hype, there are serious issues at play.

There is a widespread belief in the media industry that CNN is seeking to reposition itself closer to the center under new CEO and chairman Chris Licht.

Trump, too, has some incentive to reach beyond his base rather than just play the greatest, media-bashing hits, if he’s capable of such a pivot. 

What if he repeats election lies? 

Trump has never backed away from his lies about the 2020 election being stolen from him. Indeed, he often repeats such allegations, both online and in his campaign appearances.

CNN is under a journalistic obligation to point out that Trump’s allegations are fiction. The network would obviously want to put a particularly wide berth between itself and the kind of wild allegations that recently caused Fox News to pay out almost $800 million to settle a defamation case against Dominion Voting Systems.

But dealing with these issues is trickier than it sounds.

CNN’s moderator, Kaitlan Collins, will be aiming to address Trump’s conspiracy theory without getting into a prolonged back-and-forth that derails the evening.

From Trump’s perspective, there are some in his circle who would rather see him move away from the 2020 false allegations, which draw in no new supporters and open him up to the charge that he is looking to the past rather than the future — even as a declared 2024 candidate.

Trump himself, however, has remained impervious to that argument. 

Will his main target be President Biden or Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis?

Trump has been increasingly vociferous in attacking Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) in recent weeks.

Having apparently settled on “DeSanctimonious” as his nickname of choice, a recent social media post from Trump declared the Florida governor “a total flameout” who is “dropping like a rock in the Polls.”

As is often the case with Trump, there is an element of truth in the hyperbole: DeSantis is lagging Trump badly in recent polls. 

DeSantis has not officially entered the race yet but is expected to do so within the next month or so. Trump will want to keep the heat on him, hoping to snuff out his rival’s candidacy early. 

The question is whether he prioritizes that line of attack over targeting President Biden himself. 

Trump has had some good news recently against Biden — most notably, a Washington Post-ABC News poll released Sunday showed him defeating his successor by 7 points in a head-to-head match-up.

Attacks on Biden are, in a sense, a simpler proposition for Trump, uniting the GOP base in a way that attacks upon DeSantis do not.

How does Kaitlan Collins do?

The town hall event is a big opportunity for Collins, a rising star at the network. But it comes with plenty of risks, too.

Collins made her name as a White House Correspondent for CNN during Trump’s tenure. She was widely praised during that time for the quality and tenacity of her reporting while largely avoiding some of the more theatrical attacks on the president that others in the press corps favored. 

Prior to her time at CNN, Collins had covered the White House for The Daily Caller, the conservative website co-founded by Tucker Carlson.

Still, she was hardly in the Trump team’s good graces. At one White House press briefing soon after Trump had lost the election, his press secretary, Kayleigh McEnany, branded her an “activist” — a charge Collins immediately denied.  

Collins is clearly in the ascendant at CNN, where she co-anchors the network’s relatively new morning show, “CNN This Morning.”

The show has gone through its share of dramas, culminating in the firing of cohost Don Lemon. But Collins herself hasn’t seemed damaged by any of that. 

If she does well Wednesday, it will show she can handle the biggest occasions for the network. 

But moderating a live event with a figure so unpredictable as Trump is always going to be turbulent. 

If the stakes are high politically for Trump, they are just as high professionally for Collins.