CNN aired a short edit this week showing just how far some of President Donald Trump’s officials went to praise him during a recent Cabinet meeting.
The 32-second segment quickly blew up on social media, where reactions ranged from stunned to sarcastic.
The clip featured a series of Cabinet members taking turns thanking the president for his leadership, with little substance beyond flattery.
Some of the standout remarks from the Cabinet meeting included:
- “Under your leadership, we are going to revitalize and make shipbuilding and maritime great again.”
- “The honor and respect we have for each other is a reflection of you and your leadership.”
- “Thanks to your leadership.”
- “You were overwhelmingly elected by the biggest majority.”
Elon Musk also chimed in, saying, “Thanks to your fantastic leadership.”
As CNN showed, the tone felt less like a high-level policy discussion and more like a performance of loyalty.
Online Reactions Pour In
It didn’t take long for the internet to react.
“Trump officials make up in sycophancy what they lack in basic qualifications to do their jobs,” one user wrote.
The other one added, “Make America North Korea Again. When Homeland Security comes to your house, better have that portrait of Dear Leader on your wall…”
Some users tried to put the moment in a broader context, “What would be even more effective is to juxtapose this to clips of Biden’s Cabinet or Obama’s, etc. The most embarrassing loyalist under those regimes is orders of magnitude less sycophantic than this.”
Kasich: “This Is Dangerous”
Criticism also came from outside of social media. Former Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a Republican and MSNBC political analyst, called the moment “dangerous” and warned about the risks of groupthink.
“The most dangerous thing you can have is when people sit around you and tell you how great you are,” Kasich said during an interview with MSNBC’s Alex Witt.
He pointed out that one of the few officials who pushed back was Scott Bessent, who reportedly warned Trump about the economic consequences of his tariff policy.
“You can’t just have people saying how great you are. You’ve got to have people that can be constructive and give guidance and advice,” Kasich said.
Economic Uncertainty Still Looms
That same Cabinet meeting came as markets remained volatile and Trump’s tariff moves continued to rattle investors.
Kasich also criticized the way Congress has allowed the presidency to take more power over time, especially on economic issues.
“That is not a good way, because we’re supposed to have three branches of government.”
He also warned that America’s global reputation is suffering.
“What you’re hearing around the world in foreign capitals is, ‘Who is America?’ We used to trust them, we used to count on them, and now we don’t,” he said.
“And now the tariffs—it’s creating tremendous uncertainty and distrust. That’s a real problem. I don’t know how we get that back.”
Parody or Politics?
For many watching that short CNN montage, the policy implications took a backseat to the tone of the meeting itself, which came off more like a scene from a parody than something out of Washington.
“North Koreans are even blushing,” one user joked.
IMAGE CREDIT: “President Donald Trump” by Gage Skidmore, via Flickr. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. Image adjusted for layout.