The Democratic National Committee (DNC) announced the launch of a new “war room” operation on Monday, aiming to strengthen its messaging and rapid-response efforts against President Donald Trump’s administration. Veteran strategist Tim Hogan was tapped to lead a unified push into “new information spaces” across the Party’s communications, research, and mobilization teams, as Democrats seek to regain traction following their widespread 2024 election losses.
“Donald Trump and his cabinet of billionaires are tanking the economy, dismantling public education, driving up costs, attacking Social Security, and gutting health care to line the pockets of their wealthy friends,” Hogan said in a statement about the new effort.
The DNC describes the communications initiative as a “walls down” effort to integrate its operations, targeting four key areas: expanding outreach into new media ecosystems, delivering daily messaging to oppose Trump, employing creative tactics supported by in-depth research to challenge Republicans, and launching what the party calls a modernized effort to counter “lies from the right.”
Newly elected DNC Chair Ken Martin said the operation will “update people in real time and around the clock” to address what Democrats view as Trump’s “reckless agenda.”
“While Donald Trump continues to push an agenda that raises costs, destroys jobs, and ruins lives, he also continues to lie, spin, and cheat his way out of accountability,” Martin said.
Hogan, whose title with the new DNC War Room is “Senior Advisor for Messaging, Mobilization, and Strategy,” brings 15 years of experience in politics and media, the DNC statement noted. Most recently, he shaped editorial and communications strategies for Midwest-focused news startups and advised ballot initiatives and Democratic campaigns through his firm, Off Script Media.
The former 2016 Clinton general election surrogate served as the Communications Director for Senator Amy Klobuchar’s 2020 presidential campaign; and during the first Trump administration, he worked on The Hub Project where he crafted messaging against Trump-era tax and healthcare policies.
The DNC said they plan to deploy “aggressive daily messaging” and “creative opposition tactics” in decentralized online spaces like podcasts, TikTok, and social media. This shift aligns with broader trends in media consumption.
A February 2025 Gallup poll found trust in television news is at near-historic lows, with only 12 percent of Americans expressing confidence compared to 56 percent distrusting it — outranked only by Congress. Among younger voters, trust has eroded sharply since 2003, dropping from 50 percent to 31 percent for young Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents, and to 20 percent for young Republicans.
Surveys also highlight a pivot among key demographics. A 2024 study by the American Press Institute and AP-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research noted that young people, Black voters, and Latino voters — groups Democrats lost ground with in 2024 — are more likely to look to social media for election news and view it as reliable.
Separately, data scientist David Shor’s analysis of 26 million survey respondents suggested TikTok users swung nearly six points toward Republicans in 2024 — a sharper shift than among traditional TV viewers, his post-election research found.
The Democrats say their war room playbook includes grassroots “People’s Town Halls” in GOP-led districts, an influencer engagement network targeting niche online audiences, and surrogate appearances in conservative-leaning media. The DNC also launched a “People’s Cabinet” Friday, a week ago, featuring experts and community voices to rebut what Hogan called Trump’s “unqualified billionaires, Fox News hosts, and conspiracy theorists.”
The Party statement added that enhanced research and monitoring will track Trump and allies like Elon Musk and Senator JD Vance, feeding opposition campaigns.
Newly-appointed DNC Executive Director Roger Lau called the war room a natural evolution. “Our new War Room will increase our capacity to make sure Trump, Elon Musk, and MAGA Republicans never get away with pulling the rug out from under the American people,” he said.
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Christina Botteri is the Executive Editor of The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow her on X at @christinakb.
