Why the left can’t stop obsessing over Trump

Millions of Americans insist they are exhausted by President Trump. Yet many know exactly what he posted yesterday, what he said that morning, and what cable news is arguing about tonight.

They complain the media covers him too much, yet they continue clicking, watching, reposting and debating him. If Americans are so tired of Trump, why not stop paying so much attention to him?

Trump’s supporters aren’t the mystery. They voted for him. They want to hear what he has to say.

His critics are far more interesting. Many people who wish Trump would disappear from public life nevertheless follow him relentlessly. They monitor his speeches, dissect his social media posts and debate his every move. Politics alone doesn’t explain that contradiction. Psychology helps explain the rest.

Behavioral psychologists have long known that unpredictable rewards are among the strongest forces governing human attention. Casinos rely on the same principle, known as intermittent reinforcement. When people don’t know what comes next, they keep checking. Politics isn’t gambling, but attention to it often follows the same pattern.

For nearly a decade, Trump has supplied something modern politics rarely offers: genuine uncertainty about what comes next. Tomorrow may bring a policy announcement, a personnel decision, a courtroom development, an impromptu exchange with reporters or the renaming of some major body of water .

Whatever it is, supporters and critics alike expect something worth their attention. That uncertainty keeps both sides engaged. Supporters watch because they hope something important has happened. Critics watch because they worry it has. Different emotions produce the same behavior, and both sides remain fixed on the same person.

Few public figures generate ratings, clicks, and debate as reliably as Trump. The media don’t simply report on Trump — they often amplify him. News organizations compete for audience attention. Even outlets that say they want to move on frequently find themselves pulled back because audiences continue watching. The result is a self-perpetuating cycle. Trump says or does something unexpected. News organizations rush to cover it. Critics condemn it. Supporters defend it. Television panels debate whether the story deserved so much attention, only to give it even more. Before long, the conversation about Trump becomes larger than the event that started it.

Attention is not the same as approval. People naturally devote more attention to uncertain situations than predictable ones, and politics is no exception. As long as Americans believe tomorrow may bring a consequential Trump development, millions will continue checking today’s headlines, whether they support him or oppose him. This also helps explain why predictions of “Trump fatigue” rarely come true. People who say they want less Trump often become the ones most determined not to miss the next development. They remain locked in the cycle they claim to dislike.

Of course, Trump commands attention because he is president. But that doesn’t fully explain what we’ve witnessed over the past decade. Every president dominates headlines. Few have generated this level of sustained public anticipation. Trump has an unusual ability to make supporters and critics alike believe that the next headline could matter.

That matters because attention is political currency. Before politicians persuade voters, they first have to capture attention. Every hour spent arguing about Trump’s latest statement is an hour not spent discussing someone else’s agenda. Whether people support him or oppose him, they continue making him the focal point of American politics.

For years, Trump’s critics have argued that the country needs to move on from him. Yet many continue giving him exactly what every politician seeks: attention.

Ironically, some of the people most determined to diminish Trump’s influence may be helping preserve it. Trump’s greatest political skill may not be persuasion, ideology, or even charisma. It is his remarkable ability to command attention.

In politics, winning attention often comes before winning arguments. Until people understand why they keep giving Trump so much of it, they will continue sustaining the very phenomenon they say they want to escape.

Jonathan Alpert is a psychotherapist and author of Therapy Nation .