Mainstream News Magazines Launch Full-Out Front Cover Assault on Trump

Last Friday, Der Spiegel shocked readers and onlookers alike with the cover of their latest issue, featuring President Trump wielding a blood-soaked knife in one hand and the head of Lady Liberty, the world-famous American symbol of freedom, in the other. The words 'America First' are inscribed in the cover's lower right corner.

Der neue SPIEGEL. Ab jetzt zum Download und ab morgen im Laden erhältlich: https://t.co/qv6ihBqCQm pic.twitter.com/xtfI9YL2yW

— DER SPIEGEL (@DerSPIEGEL) 3 февраля 2017 г.

Hit by a wall of negative comments, the magazine's editors insisted that the image was not meant to be provocative, but was supposed to 'defend democracy' by symbolizing Trump's 'attack on freedom and justice.'

However, social media users complained that the cover was depicting Trump as a terrorist, with others pointing out that the magazine never had the courage to depict actual radical Islamist terrorists in this way. Others called the cover "idiotic" and said that "a leftist magazine for intelligent people" had turned into a "neocon propaganda outlet." Others still suggested that even many Americans who didn't support the US President would see the Spiegel cover as "way over the top."

As it turns out, Spiegel wasn't actually the first outlet to depict Trump cutting off the head of the Statue of Liberty. The New York Daily News tabloid did it back in 2015, and was also devoted to a story about Trump's alleged 'attack on immigrants'.

When Trump came for the Mexicans, I did not speak out...

This @NYDailyNews splash is from 2015. pic.twitter.com/notMuf8XRg

— Laurie Hanna (@LaurieHanna) 29 января 2017 г.

The Washington Post, calling the Spiegel cover "stunning," learned from its creator Edel Rodriguez that the comparison of Trump to Daesh terrorists was deliberate. "Both sides are extremists, so I'm just making a comparison between them," Rodriguez said.

Spiegel wasn't the only one out to shock last week. Irish political and cultural weekly Village magazine featured a picture of Trump in the crosshairs of a gun's scope with the caption 'WHY NOT'.

Village February out today, Friday. Cover and editorial: why taking #Trump out would be unethical pic.twitter.com/Wr2lmgTtvx

— Village Magazine (@VillageMagIRE) 3 февраля 2017 г.

The cover story called Trump a threat to the world, and discussed whether it would be moral to assassinate him. Concluding that "shooting Trump is unnecessary and disproportionate," the provocative cover ended up sparking anger in Ireland and in the UK's Northern Island, where several high profile politicians actually were killed during The Troubles. Social media users slammed the magazine, saying that it went "too far", was advocating the President's murder, and was "a disgrace to Ireland" 

London-based business magazine The Economist offered cover art that was just a bit less provocative, featuring Trump in his characteristic black business suit and red tie and a MAGA hat preparing to lob a Molotov cocktail. The cover story complained that Trump's policies threatened to destabilize the existing world order.

As Donald Trump rages against the world, America’s allies are worried—and rightly so. Our cover this week: https://t.co/v5iilih90H pic.twitter.com/FWGqkqTKyw

— The Economist (@TheEconomist) 5 февраля 2017 г.

With some Twitter users rushing to praise the cover story as a "timely" and "important" piece, others recalled how the The Economist had endorsed Hillary Clinton for President, and the magazine's connections to the Rothschild family, which co-owns 50% of the Economist Group's English branch together with another elite family, the Angelli military-industrial business dynasty.

financial owner of The Economist is the Rothschild family. see the Globalist vs Trump mindset at play here? I'm not tired of winning. https://t.co/YChzoc1f9b

— RockPrincess (@Rockprincess818) 5 февраля 2017 г.

The Rothschild-owned Economist says Trump is a "revolutionary." That would make anti-Trumpers "reactionaries," not anarchists. pic.twitter.com/1VUyqBI9j9

— Howdy Doody (@StatesRights420) 5 февраля 2017 г.

Bloomberg Businessweek chose to avoid scandal, choosing to criticize Trump's executive orders instead. The cover features Trump holding a 'template' for an executive order, with the text "Insert hastily drafted, legally dubious, economically destabilizing executive order here" written inside. The lead story is titled "Stability Is Good for Business. Trump's Whims Threaten It." 

NEW COVER: Stability is good for business. Donald Trump's whims threaten it https://t.co/c9wNJcY3Km pic.twitter.com/mY5b0a833l

— Businessweek (@BW) 2 февраля 2017 г.

Time Magazine, for its part, chose to skip Trump altogether, and went after White House Chief of Staff Steve Bannon, whom it dubbed "the Great Manipulator."

Time Magazine cover calls Bannon "The Great Manipulator" https://t.co/SrDPIeFOy0 pic.twitter.com/crIncOaohu

— The Hill (@thehill) 2 февраля 2017 г.

Social media reaction was more muted on this one, with many users making fun of Bannon's physical appearance or simply noting that no one reads Time magazine anymore.

Morning Joe spent so much time on Bannon being on the cover of Time magazine. Nobody reads Time any more!

— Mike Manty (@MikeManty) 7 февраля 2017 г.

The Hill says, Time magazine cover on President Bannon hits "newsstands on Friday". What's a newsstand?https://t.co/5fxBTQ0vx0

— Bonnie Johnson (@BonnieSalm) 7 февраля 2017 г.

Compared to some of the others, the New Yorker magazine's cover, also devoted to Trump's executive order on immigration, was quite tame, with users suggesting that Spiegel had done a good job one-upping them.

Beautiful New Yorker cover for next week. https://t.co/oI5AaQ1BXz pic.twitter.com/0Dihek47Mf

— Nicholas Thompson (@nxthompson) 3 февраля 2017 г.

Interesting to contrast the timidity of the New Yorker with Der Spiegel’s cover pic.twitter.com/pz3pKytiQC

— 🌊 Ben Harris-Roxas (@ben_hr) 3 февраля 2017 г.

Finally, The Atlantic magazine decided to try to get a jump on next month, tweeting the cover of its March issue, which features the article 'How to Build an Autocracy'.

We're posting the March cover story a week early, given the news environment. Watch for it tonight. pic.twitter.com/CvmnsAYCJV

— Bob Cohn (@1bobcohn) 30 января 2017 г.

Ironically, the cover story's author is none other than David Frum, a prominent neocon figure who served as  George W. Bush's speechwriter, inventing the 'Axis of Evil' phraseology. In his own time, Frum vigorously defended the US invasion of Iraq, and advocated for regime change in Iran and Syria. During the last election, Frum announced that he would vote for Hillary Clinton for president.

To be fair to @TheAtlantic - @davidfrum would know how to build an autocracy. Trumps rhetoric is a close descendent to Frum's "Axis of Evil" pic.twitter.com/OTKTmxkWZx

— Bill Moran (@BillMoranWrites) 31 января 2017 г.