Trump’s often denouncing the media and certain media figures. But he needs them as the master media manipulator he is. And they need him too to build their own fame or notoriety and, yes, some book contracts.

So, they play along as foils by giving Trump the massive attention he craves and needs to succeed.

Perhaps the man’s most successful tactic that kept people watching his television show and his ensuing political career is his Unpredictability.

Joe Biden displays a similar unpredictability but in a negative sense. He keeps people watching to see what verbal or physical disaster he’ll commit during each public appearance throughout the short workdays in his short work weeks.

People keep watching Donald Trump to see what he might do or might not do, what he might say or might not say.

From a political point of view, many of us think he could have been even more successful had he not said so much, not risen to every single bait from his antagonists, punching back for each perceived slight that often ended up distracting attention from his far more important goals.

But he’s baaack. And, predictably, being as unpredictable as ever. This week I had some thoughts on that.

Last week’s audio commentary tried to examine the reasons explaining why Americans are in such a foul general mood these days. We each have our own theories and think we know.

But we don’t.

In this week’s Sunday VIP column, I examined the dynamics of the first major argument in this cycle’s Republican presidential primary: The debate over debates.

Some of the candidates need them desperately to broaden their exposure on a national stage and, not coincidentally, attract donations.

Another candidate not so much, and he’s hinted that he may not attend. Oh, look that’s a favorite ploy of Donald Trump.

He’s not a novelty anymore. It would be dangerous to leave that first debate on FoxNews in August to the small crowd of competitors chasing — and presumably attacking — him.

But, as we noted above, Trump can be unpredictable. Which is why we can expect the television debate audience to be large, just as Trump’s audience was for “The Apprentice.”

An excerpt:

I’ve written here before of my profound belief that these debates have become little more than reality political shows.

Television’s format with a ticking clock, cheering audiences, and breaks for “these important messages” prizes appearance far above any substance.

Fact is, the superficial issue coverage bears little relevance to the actual duties of a well-staffed POTUS.

Speaking of the GOP primaries, Trump’s leading rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, visited what’s left of the U.S. border with Mexico.

That’s a major 2024 campaign vulnerability for Joe Biden, who revoked Trump’s effective holding policy. Then, Biden handed the mess off to Vice President Kamala Harris, who hasn’t done anything to help fix it.

My RedState colleague, Bob Hoge, wrote up the governor’s visit and included a DeSantis rebuke of the incumbent president, calling the open border situation “a massive dereliction of duty:”

I don’t know how you could just sit there and let the country be overrun with millions and millions of people coming illegally and massive amounts of drugs coming in.