Every election cycle has its own breakout media star. In 1992, it was CNN. A few years later, it would be an e-mail blast called the Drudge Report. By 2000, the country had more or less been neatly delineated between MSNBC and Fox News households. The 2008 election introduced Politico and the Huffington Post to the adults’ table. BuzzFeed joined in 2012. 
 
 The breakout media star of 2016 is, inarguably, Donald Trump, who has masterfully—and horrifyingly—demonstrated an aptitude for manipulating the news cycle, gaining billions of dollars worth of free airtime, and dominating coverage on every screen. Now, several people around him are looking for a way to leverage his supporters into a new media platform and cable channel. 
 
 Trump is indeed considering creating his own media business, built on the audience that has supported him thus far in his bid to become the next president of the United States. According to several people briefed on the discussions, the presumptive Republican nominee is examining the opportunity presented by the “audience” currently supporting him. He has also discussed the possibility of launching a “mini-media conglomerate” outside of his existing TV-production business, Trump Productions LLC. He has, according to one of these people, enlisted the consultation of his daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, who owns the The New York Observer. Trump’s rationale, according to this person, is that, “win or lose, we are onto something here. We’ve triggered a base of the population that hasn’t had a voice in a long time.” For his part, Kushner was heard at a New York dinner party saying that “the people here don’t understand what I’m seeing. You go to these arenas and people go crazy for him.” (Both Kushner and Ivanka Trump did not respond to a request for comment.) 
 
 “Even old Fox News didn’t have the right read on what the base is. And we do.” 
 
 Trump, this person close to the matter suggests, has become irked by his ability to create revenue for other media organizations without being able to take a cut himself. Such a situation “brings him to the conclusion that he has the business acumen and the ratings for his own network.” Trump has “gotten the bug,” according to this person. “So now he wants to figure out if he can monetize it.” 
 
 Hope Hicks, Trump’s spokeswoman, adamantly denied that such conversations have occurred. (“There is absolutely no truth to this whatsoever,” she told me. “This hasn’t been even uttered. Not even thought about.”) Then, after conferring with Trump, she issued a subsequent statement clarifying her point: “While it’s true Mr. Trump garners exceptionally high ratings, there are absolutely no plans or discussions taking place regarding a venture of this nature.” Meanwhile, someone close to Kushner has suggested that Trump would be unlikely to go so far as to seek out a partner at this stage of the race, given that it might risk alienating many of the established media players that he has outflanked—and that he is relying on to get him elected. (Such a move would also inevitably raise issues regarding the F.C.C.’s “equal-time” rule.) Nevertheless, shortly after my correspondence with Hicks, he tweeted out: “The press is so totally biased that we have no choice but to take our tough but fair and smart message directly to the people!” 
 
 Indeed, the specter of a Trump-focused platform, no matter how unappetizing, is not entirely illogical. Republican candidates have historically used the protracted national election cycle to indirectly land gigs on Fox News or Sirius XM. Election cycles have become veritable job interviews for the likes of Sarah Palin, Mike Huckabee, and others. But Trump has successfully circumnavigated traditional media outlets more than any candidate in history. He has picked fights with Fox News and won. His campaign has barred reporters from the Huffington Post, Gawker, Buzzfeed, and the New Hampshire Union Leader from events. Earlier this month, a Politico reporter was denied access to an event in California. After The Washington Post reported on Trump’s suggestion that President Obama was somehow complicit in the Orlando terrorist attack, his campaign revoked the news organization’s press credentials. 
 
 A generation ago—perhaps even a few months ago—these tactics would have irreparably doomed a campaign. But Trump has proved that he no longer needs the platform that news outlets have traditionally provided for candidates. As my colleague Nick Bilton has noted, Trump has mastered the attention war on social media and discovered a preternatural ability to tap into his base directly. Love him or despise him, Trump indisputably has the finger on the pulse of his audience. And this connection could certainly facilitate such a hypothetical mini-media conglomerate. “Even old Fox News didn’t have the right read on what the base is,” one person briefed on the conversation told me. “And we do.” ||||| Photo: Alex Wong/Getty Images 
 
 Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump is (you may have heard) not doing so well — in the polls, in the race for the presidency, possibly even in his own mind. He’s hemorrhaging support from high-profile Republicans and swing-state voters. It seems clear at this point that Trump has lost the race. 
 
 Clear, that is, to everyone but billionaire Facebook investor and Charles Foster Kane cosplayer Peter Thiel. According to the New York Times, Thiel is donating 1.25 million to the Republican effort “through a combination of super PAC donations and funds given directly to the campaign.” 
 
 The question, obviously, is why? Thiel’s support for Trump was never a secret, but since his prime-time speaking spot at the Republican National Convention, the investor has kept silent. Reappearing at the last minute to donate a large sum of money to a campaign that is, by most accounts, already over — in the process reminding his mostly liberal business partners and associates of his devotion to a candidate they hate — is a curious thing to do, especially for someone who has such an outsize reputation as a savvy investor. As such, it’s been the subject of a great deal of gleeful speculation and wanton theorizing. Why would Peter Thiel donate $1.25 million to a loser? 
 
 It’s a first-round investment in Trump TV: Thiel’s willingness to show some seven-figure support for Trump at this late stage might signal that Thiel wants to stay in Trump’s circle even after the polls close and the votes are tallied. Widespread speculation holds that Trump (possibly with the help of his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Roger Ailes) is looking into launching a cable channel following the election. Maybe Thiel is demonstrating interest in getting in on the ground floor of that? It’s an appealing theory, but there’s little concrete evidence that Trump is actually interested in parlaying his campaign into a media business. Plus, cable channels — especially those targeted at, and run by, elderly reactionaries — aren’t necessarily sure-thing investments, and Thiel has recently shown more interest in destroying media empires than creating them. 
 
 He’s “paying” for his speaking spot at the RNC: Thiel made history over the summer when he stood onstage at the Republican National Convention and told the crowd that he was proud to be gay. He also said some vague stuff about … I think space? At the very least, the appearance introduced Thiel to a group of people that generally believe that Silicon Valley elite are uniformly against conservative values. On Twitter, Recode’s Peter Kafka wonders if the donation is “the bare minimum Thiel previously agreed to donate in return for his RNC speaking spot.” Maybe flushing $1.25 million down the toilet is his way of saying thanks. 
 
 It’s an investment in the alt-right: Even if a Trump presidency never happens, his campaign has legitimized and bolstered the alt-right, the post-libertarian, anti-immigrant, “race-realist” movement with which Thiel would seem to share a great deal of common ideological ground. Thiel likes to think in historical terms, and is fond of long-game bets. Maybe this is his way of demonstrating a commitment to the alt-right wing of Trump’s supporter base — even a reward for Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior over the last few weeks. Or, maybe more prosaically, support for a Republican now opens the door to more direct involvement in the future. Now-denied reports indicated that Thiel was in the running for a Trump Supreme Court nomination. But why stop at the bench? Trump’s shown that someone with money and a willingness to indulge Republican voters’ worst impulses can build a compelling campaign. 
 
 He thinks Trump might actually win: I mean, why not? Crazier things have happened, and being one of the few people loudly and publicly supporting the candidate this late in the campaign surely translates to leverage and influence (if not an appointed position) in a Trump White House. Venture capitalists — Thiel in particular — tend to love long-shot bets with big payoffs, and it’s hard to think of a bet with a longer shot or a bigger payoff than this. 
 
 He’s a contrarian troll with money to burn: $1.25 million is, to pretty much everyone who is not Peter Thiel, a lot of money. To Thiel, who is worth $2.7 billion, his donation amounts to 0.046 percent of his assets. It is, as Ralph Kramden once put it, a mere bag of shells. He spent eight times that amount to put Gawker out of business via Hulk Hogan. Thiel, who is reportedly interested in harvesting the blood of the young in order to stave off the creep of death, has no problem spending his vast reserves of cash on petty and foolish causes. ||||| It has been long rumored that Donald Trump will attempt to start some type of media organization if he loses on Election Day, and it might already be hiring. 
 
 An organization billed as an “up-and-coming conservative media network currently in development” is looking for employees, according to Fox News. 
 
 A casting notice says the network is looking for hosts, reporters and right-leaning, well-spoken panelists — exactly what a potential Trump TV would need. 
 
 Also Read: Trump Campaign CEO Steve Bannon to Return to Breitbart Post-Election 
 
 The Trump campaign did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s request for comment. 
 
 Auditions are being held at an undisclosed New York City studio on Monday. The casting call suggests that initial programming will be streamed on the internet, according to Fox News. This makes sense, as Trump already has an evening newscast that streams daily on Facebook Live. 
 
 Trump’s son-in-law, Jared Kushner, recently contacted media banker Aryeh Bourkoff about the possibility of setting up a Trump television network after the election, the Financial Times reported last month. 
 
 Also Read: Hillary Clinton Email Scandals: A Guide From Wikileaks to Anthony Weiner's PC 
 
 Trump has also worked closely with former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes and Breitbart guru Stephen Bannon, leading to speculation that his backup plan to becoming POTUS is launching a right-leaning news organization. 
 
 “I want to win the presidency and I want to make America great again. It’s very simple. I have no interest in a media company,” Trump recently told the Washington Post, but it doesn’t appear that anyone believes him. 
 
 Maybe this is a casting call for Trump TV. Or Trump News. Maybe it isn’t. But it might be your only chance to work for The Donald. ||||| Friends, 
 
 Donald Trump never actually wanted to be President of the United States. I know this for a fact. I’m not going to say how I know it. I’m not saying that Trump and I shared the same agent or lawyer or stylist or, if we did, that that would have anything to do with anything. And I’m certainly not saying that I ever overheard anything at those agencies or in the hallways of NBC or anywhere else. But there are certain people reading this right now, they know who they are, and they know that every word in the following paragraphs actually happened. 
 
 Trump was unhappy with his deal as host and star of his hit NBC show, “The Apprentice” (and “The Celebrity Apprentice”). Simply put, he wanted more money. He had floated the idea before of possibly running for president in the hopes that the attention from that would make his negotiating position stronger. But he knew, as the self-proclaimed king of the dealmakers, that saying you’re going to do something is bupkus — DOING it is what makes the bastards sit up and pay attention. 
 
 Trump had begun talking to other networks about moving his show. This was another way to get leverage — the fear of losing him to someone else — and when he “quietly” met with the head of one of those networks, and word got around, his hand was strengthened. He knew then that it was time to play his Big Card. 
 
 He decided to run for President. 
 
 Of course he wouldn’t really have to RUN for President — just make the announcement, hold a few mega-rallies that would be packed with tens of thousands of fans, and wait for the first opinion polls to come in showing him — what else! — in first place! And then he would get whatever deal he wanted, worth millions more than what he was currently being paid. 
 
 So, on June 16th of last year, he rode down his golden escalator and opened his mouth. With no campaign staff, no 50-state campaign infrastructure — neither of which he needed because, remember, this wasn’t going to be a real campaign — and with no prepared script, he went off the rails at his kick-off press conference, calling Mexicans “rapists” and “drug dealers” and pledging to build a wall to keep them all out. Jaws in the room were agape. His comments were so offensive, NBC, far from offering him a bigger paycheck, immediately fired him with this terse statement: “Due to the recent derogatory statements by Donald Trump regarding immigrants, NBCUniversal is ending its business relationship with Mr. Trump.” NBC said it was also canceling the beauty pageants owned by Trump: Miss USA and Miss Universe. BOOM. 
 
 Trump was stunned. So much for the art of the deal. He never expected this, but he stuck to his plan anyway to increase his “value” in the eyes of the other networks by showing them how many millions of Americans wanted Him to be their Leader. He knew, of course (and the people he trusted also told him) that there was no way he was actually going to win many (if any) of the primaries, and he certainly would not become the Republican nominee, and NEVER would he EVER be the President of the United States. Of course not! Nor would he want to be! The job of being President is WORK and BORING and you have to live in the GHETTO of Washington, DC, in a SMALL 200-yr. old house that’s damp and dreary and has only TWO floors! A “second floor” is not a penthouse! But none of this was a worry, as “Trump for President” was only a ruse that was going to last a few months. 
 
 And then something happened. And to be honest, if it happened to you, you might have reacted the same way. Trump, to his own surprise, ignited the country, especially among people who were the opposite of billionaires. He went straight to #1 in the polls of Republican voters. Up to 30,000 boisterous supporters started showing up to his rallies. TV ate it up. He became the first American celebrity to be able to book himself on any show he wanted to be on — and then NOT show up to the studio! From “Face the Nation” to “The Today Show” to Anderson Cooper, he was able to simply phone in and they’d put him on the air live. He could’ve been sitting on his golden toilet in Trump Tower for all we knew –and the media had no problem with any of that. In fact, CBS head Les Moonves famously admitted that Trump was very good for TV ratings and selling ads — music to the ears the NBC-spurned narcissist. 
 
 Trump fell in love with himself all over again, and he soon forgot his mission to get a good deal for a TV show. A TV show? Are you kldding – that’s for losers like Chris Harrison, whoever that is (host of “The Bachelorette”). He was no longer king of the dealmakers — he was King of the World! His tiniest musings would be discussed and dissected everywhere by everybody for days, weeks, months! THAT never happened on “The Apprentice”! Host a TV show? He was the star of EVERY TV SHOW — and, soon, winning nearly every primary! 
 
 And then… you can see the moment it finally dawned on him… that “Oh shit!” revelation: “I’m actually going to be the Republican nominee — and my rich beautiful life is f#*@ing over!” It was the night he won the New Jersey primary. The headline on TIME.com was, “Donald Trump’s Subdued Victory Speech After Winning New Jersey.” Instead of it being one of his loud, brash speeches, it was downright depressing. No energy, no happiness, just the realization that now he was going to have to go through with this stunt that he started. It was no longer going to be performance art. He was going to have to go to work. 
 
 Soon, though, his karma caught up with him. Calling Mexicans “rapists” should have disqualified him on Day One (or for saying Obama wasn’t born here, as he did in 2011). No, it took 13 months of racist, sexist, stupid comments before he finally undid himself with the trifecta of attacking the family of a slain soldier, ridiculing the Purple Heart and suggesting that the pro-gun crowd assassinate Hillary Clinton. By this past weekend, the look on his face said it all — “I hate this! I want my show back!” But it was too late. He was damaged goods, his brand beyond repair, a worldwide laughing stock — and worse, a soon-to-be loser. 
 
 But, let me throw out another theory, one that assumes that Trump isn’t as dumb or crazy as he looks. Maybe the meltdown of the past three weeks was no accident. Maybe it’s all part of his new strategy to get the hell out of a race he never intended to see through to its end anyway. Because, unless he is just “crazy,” the only explanation for the unusual ramping up, day after day, of one disgustingly reckless statement after another is that he’s doing it consciously (or subconsciously) so that he’ll have to bow out or blame “others” for forcing him out. Many now are sensing the end game here because they know Trump seriously doesn’t want to do the actual job — and, most importantly, he cannot and WILL NOT suffer through being officially and legally declared a loser — LOSER! — on the night of November 8th. 
 
 Trust me, I’ve met the guy. Spent an afternoon with him. He would rather invite the Clintons AND the Obamas to his next wedding than have that scarlet letter (“L”) branded on his forehead seconds after the last polls have closed on that night, the evening of the final episode of the permanently cancelled Donald Trump Shit-Show. 
 
 Yours, 
 
 Michael Moore 
 
 Postscript: 
 
 Don, if you’re reading this, do it soon. Give your pathetic party a chance to pick up the pieces and nominate Ryan or Romney so they can be the ones to lose the White House, the Senate, the House and yes, praise Jesus and the Notorious RBG, the Supreme Court. Don’t be too hard on yourself. You’re only the logical conclusion to a party that has lived off the currency of racism and bigotry and fellating the 1% for decades, and now their Trump has come home to roost.
– Is Donald Trump running for president simply as a means of launching his own cable news network? That's the theory put forth by Vanity Fair, quoting anonymous sources close to the situation. Trump is reportedly "irked" that he's bringing in big ratings for other networks without getting any of the profits himself. “He wants to figure out if he can monetize it,” a source says. He's allegedly consulting with daughter Ivanka Trump and son-in-law Jared Kushner on a "mini-media conglomerate." His reasoning, according to a source: “We’ve triggered a base of the population that hasn’t had a voice in a long time.” A Trump spokesperson denies Trump is even thinking about such a thing. But immediately after, Trump tweeted: "The press is so totally biased that we have no choice but to take our tough but fair and smart message directly to the people!” New York Magazine says the theory makes sense. This is the first time it's unclear whether a presidential candidate actually wants to be president. Trump is historically unpopular and shows little interest in changing that, and he's half-assing basic tasks of running for president, such as calling donors. Trump TV would be the "logical end" of his campaign, according to New Republic. “If Trump’s TV station gets 30% ratings, it’ll be doing fantastically well," the website states. "But if that’s his share of the vote, then his candidacy will end in failure.” Transitioning from presidential candidate to media baron wouldn't be easy. Trump would still need a partner for funding and would likely need to buy an existing cable channel. “It’s a fool’s errand,” an entertainment executive tells Vanity Fair. “But then again, we are talking about Donald Trump.” (Did this 1992 movie predict Trump's campaign?)