Ben Smith responds to discussions about whether tech executives' outreach to Donald Trump will yield antitrust relief.
Opinion
Ben Smith: Signal leak is the first massive breach in Trump's narrative
“Trump has had this remarkable three months of, and I think we looked at, I'm not sure we'll say that he got a lot done. I think the jury is very, very much out on like, wait, what exactly didn't get held up in court and what happened, but of absolutely dominat…”
Assertion Contradicted
Ben Smith: Pentagon advised Trump administration officials to use Signal
“And in fact, they had been told by the Pentagon they should be using Signal.”
Prediction Not checkable as stated
Ben Smith: Pete Hegseth will survive Signal leak; Trump team blames Waltz
“Nobody's, I think the Trump people's view is you can't start throwing people overboard, so I think no. And in fact, they seem to be madder at Mike Waltz that he had Jeffrey Goldberg's number in his phone than they are mad at Pete Hegseth.”
Insight
Ben Smith: Media startups winning a Pulitzer guarantees imminent layoffs
“So the, my thesis about Pulitzers is that when a new media company wins a Pulitzer, you can just set the clock on layoffs.”
Prediction Open · timeframe Nov 2026
Ben Smith: House Democrats will convene corruption committees targeting Big Tech CEOs
“If the Democrats take the House, we're talking in 20 months, there will be a corruption committee convened, which will have Mark Zuckerberg, Tim Cook, Sundar Pichai, and whoever talking in great detail, but every penny that was directed, and, you know, and I t…”
Insight
Ben Smith: AI products built in four hours are completely indefensible businesses
“Also, right, I thought for two seconds, oh yeah, we should charge this as a product. And it's like, well, actually, if I built this in four hours, that's like not defensible. That is the least defensible thing in the world.”