Dictators have traditionally relied on state media to cast even their most quotidian accomplishments in hagiographic terms. The most famous state propagandist might be Ri Chun-hee, the North Korean television anchor who lards her pronouncements with breathless paeans to leader and country. Here is how she described her country’s fourth nuclear test in 2016: “There took place a world-startling event to be specially recorded in the national history spanning 5,000 years in the exciting period when all service personnel and people of [North Korea] are making a giant stride, performing eye-catching miracles and exploits day-by-day after turning out as one in the all-out charge to bring earlier the final victory of the revolutionary cause!”

Fortunately, the United States has not quite yet devolved into abject Stalinism, which means our authoritarian president cannot reliably depend on the media to do the embellishing for him. In his interview last night with ABC’s David Muir, Trump took it upon himself to convey the smashing success of the speech he gave earlier this week to the CIA, which was widely panned for its petty obsession with the size of his inauguration crowd and was dogged by reports that Trump had brought in a claque of supporters to ensure there was plenty of applause. In so doing, he channeled Ri and her kind to eerie perfection.