It looks to me that Trump managed to lure the press into what I called the Trump Effect or Press Overflow.
It works as such;

Your popularity is low with press and most reporters don't like you, so they will pick in any negative thing they can to put you down.
Instead of trying to improve your popularity, you start saying the most absurdities, giving them material to keep putting you down. Keep doing this for a while and make sure you provide material to put your popularity down quite often, daily if possible.

After you reach rock bottom, increase the interval when you provide material, this will make those who were chasing you for all this long to "create their own material" - but make sure the interval isn't long enough for them to lose interest and cut the chase.

Shortly after you have reach the shifting point. Now the people is so fed up with news about you and so confuse due to the material "created by the press", that the reporters will look like pure psychos with conspiracy theories problems.
At this point your popularity will start growing as press' credibility gets flushed down the drain. As a side effect many people will not openly support you, but in the secret of a voting booth things turn different.

Trump managed to did it for 2 whole years this far... and counting!