Trump Cabinet Meeting Was a Lovefest

In a two-hour game of one-upmanship at the White House on Wednesday, top Cabinet officials took turns drenching President Trump with praise that went beyond even the usual levels of adulation. Near the end of the marathon meeting, Secretary of State Marco Rubio noted that the US has brought home 47 wrongfully detained Americans so far in Trump's second term. "Forty-seven for the 47th president in the first 100 days," Rubio said. "And that's all credit to you, Mr. President."

• Earlier in the session, Vice President JD Vance mused that "most" of the presidents whose portraits adorn the Oval Office—who include Ronald Reagan, James Madison, George Washington, and Abraham Lincoln — were mere "placeholders" who weren't "men of action," the AP reports.

• Energy Secretary Doug Burgum observed that Trump was "not just courageous, you're actually fearless" in taking on issues that other presidents dare not touch. "All of us can sprint, because you're running ahead," Burgum said.
• The president assembled his Cabinet to celebrate the 100-day mark of his second term, and Trump opened by noting that "things are happening that are amazing, but I would not say it if it weren't fact." From there, the president let others do the talking.
• Attorney General Pam Bondi claimed that Trump in his second term saved "258 million lives" due to the amount of fentanyl that his Justice Department has taken off the streets. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. thanked the president for "your vision and leadership, for giving me the 100 busiest days of my life."
• "I just want to say thank you, as a veteran of our military, for assembling what is the greatest national security team that I have ever seen in my 27 years associated with the United States Army," said Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency.

• The gushing went too far even for some who otherwise back Trump's policies and agenda, the AP reports. "Would it be possible to have a cabinet meeting without the Kim Jong il-style tributes?" conservative commentator Ann Coulter said in a post on X.
• The praise wasn't devoted just to the commander-in-chief. As Burgum spoke, he noted the "amazing group of people around the table" and added a quick aside to Trump: "You probably assembled the greatest Cabinet ever."
• During the meeting, Trump told Elon Musk he was invited to stay in his administration indefinitely. Trump said Musk had been "treated unfairly" for his role in helping Trump slash the size and scope of the federal government. "You really have sacrificed a lot," he said. Musk, who wore a Gulf of America hat on top of a DOGE hat, also praised Trump, the Washington Examiner reports. "A tremendous amount has been accomplished in the first 100 days," he said. "As everyone has said, it's more than has been accomplished in any administration before ever, period."

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