Flattery is Donald Trump’s cocaine — he’s addicted to it Trump’s dependency is enabled by a sycophantic staff who distort his grasp of reality.

Windsor Mann | Opinion columnist

Show Caption Hide Caption Cabinet members gush over Trump during meeting Great president or greatest? That appeared to be the question at President Donald Trump's first meeting of his full Cabinet on Monday, as top aides took turns piling praise on the boss. (June 12)

President Donald Trump and his cabinet both have the same job: praising — and overpraising — Trump on camera. That’s what happened on Monday. The job is so demanding that Trump can’t do it alone.

“Never has there been a president, with few exceptions … who has passed more legislation and who has done more things than what we’ve done,” Trump said, proving himself to be a student neither of history nor of the present.

Trump’s message of how awesome he is resonated with members of his cabinet, who took turns thanking and praising him.

Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta: “I am privileged to be here — deeply honored — and I want to thank you...”

Chief of staff Reince Priebus: “We thank you for the opportunity and the blessing to serve your agenda.”

Vice President Mike Pence: “The greatest privilege of my life is to serve as vice president to the president.” Being his wife’s husband and his children’s father are probably not far behind.

Monday was Thanksgiving Day at the White House. In all, Trump’s cabinet thanked him 46 times. They said “great” 32 times, “honor” 15 times and “privilege” seven times. They found a thesaurus zero times.

History repeats itself, and so does the Trump administration, which has a history of praising itself. In April, the White House issued a press release declaring its support of itself: “Senior Administration Officials Praise President Donald J. Trump’s Buy American, Hire American Executive Order.” This is what happens when only a third of Americans approve of the job you’re doing and a large percentage of those people work for you.

Flattery is Trump’s cocaine — he’s addicted to it — and, like cocaine, it’s not always genuine. Listening to “You’re the Best” from The Karate Kid soundtrack does not make you the best. Trust me, I’ve tried. Likewise, praising Trump does not make him praiseworthy. This I haven’t tried.

Trump’s dependency, enabled by his sycophantic staff, distorts his grasp of reality. If he ever holds a debate at the White House, it will be about whether he is the best president ever or the best human ever. When his children got good grades at school, Trump probably forced them to give him a round of applause.

After the meeting with his cabinet-cult, Trump tweeted that he’s bringing “real change to D.C.,” which unfortunately is true. The change is of the North Korean variety, and it’s real. Kim Jong Don is not entirely a figment of our paranoid imaginations. As we’re learning daily, reality is sometimes more cartoonish than cartoons.

Tuesday was the 51st anniversary of the Supreme Court’s Miranda decision — a reminder that Trump’s staff has the right to remain silent. Wednesday was Flag Day—a reminder that the Pledge of Allegiance is to the flag, not to The Donald.

Trump’s slogan is “America First,” but his policy is “Me First.” What’s disconcerting about this policy is how swiftly it is being executed. While Trump is free to speak his “mind” about anything, no one else in the administration has this privilege. They speak honestly only when anonymously. Their privilege is thanking Trump for the privilege of thanking him and getting paid for it.

POLICING THE USA: A look at race, justice, media

Checks and balances, as David Frum pointed out in The Atlantic, are “a metaphor, not a mechanism.” Someone must do the checking and balancing, and so far there’s no sign of either in Trump’s coterie.

Speaking of balancing, I’d like to take this opportunity to balance my criticisms with some praise. Trump makes my job easy by doing his job poorly, and for that I am (sort of) thankful.

Windsor Mann is the editor of The Quotable Hitchens: From Alcohol to Zionism. Harass him on Twitter @WindsorMann .

You can read diverse opinions from our Board of Contributors and other writers on the Opinion front page, on Twitter @USATOpinion and in our daily Opinion newsletter. To submit a letter, comment or column, check our submission guidelines.