The Times sums it up this morning:
Whatever else he is or has become, Donald J. Trump is at heart a pop culture obsessive. A fame junkie of the highest order. Us Weekly in human form.
That piece of him did not just fade away because he became the leader of a populist political movement and a two-time president. It’s all still wound up in there, as was evidenced by so much of what he said on Wednesday.
“Since 1978, the Kennedy Center honors have been among the most prestigious awards in the performing arts,” he said before a small group of top aides, Kennedy Center employees and a bank of television cameras. “I wanted one. I was never able to get one. It’s true, I would have taken it if they would’ve called me. I waited and waited and waited, and I said to hell with it, I’ll become chairman, and I’ll give myself an honor. Next year we’ll honor Trump, OK?”
That last part was said like a joke, but really, who can be sure? Now that Mr. Trump is empowered as never before, he is scratching all sorts of long-held itches. He wants a military parade on his birthday? He throws one. He wants a Mar-a-Lago-style patio off the Oval Office? He paves over the Rose Garden and builds one. He’s sick and tired of being a pariah in the liberal showbusinessland whence he came? He takes over the Kennedy Center and decides to host an awards ceremony himself.
“Look at the Academy Awards,” he said at one point. “It gets lousy ratings now. It’s all woke. All they do is talk about how much they hate Trump, but nobody likes that. They don’t watch anymore.” He talked repeatedly about the ratings he got when he hosted “The Apprentice.”
