Swooning Trump's acting like a lovesick schoolgirl
Anyone with a late-teen daughter needs only to say the name "Finn Wolfhard," one of the actors on Stranger Things, to see a human lose all higher function: linear thought, discernment, self-respect. It's all out the window as she contemplates being the center of a boy god's attention.
Though it's likely that everyone has seen a similar reaction from somebody in their life, it isn't that often that one can flip on a screen and see the vapors flowing from Donald Trump, entirely overwhelmed in the presence of someone with even more of an "it-factor" than him (at least in Trump's mind), someone who makes Trump's breath shorten, sounding like a fanboy.
It is also extremely unseemly given who it is that elicits such Trumpian mindless flirtation. Trump gave what the Associated Press calls an unusually elaborate gesture by meeting Xi's plane on the red carpet; something Trump emphasized when he wrote: “I met President Xi at the plane (Airport!) yesterday, and he looks strong, vibrant, and fit - Better than ever. Madam Xi, of course, BEAUTIFUL! President DJT."
There is no higher compliment in Trump World than "looking" better than ever.
Try to imagine Trump saying the same about any world leader from a democratic and respected country: Canada, France, Australia, South Korea, Germany... Can't do it, can you? In order to envision a similar reaction, we would have to imagine a mogul with so much money it glazes Trump's eyes, and yet a mogul who needs absolutely nothing that Trump has to give, and that's tough to envision. The Trump-Musk, Trump-Bezos, Trump-Ellison world: the relationship is too symbiotic, with each side switching between host and parasite; no puppy love there.
Given just how "weird" it is for Trump to treat anyone with respect, it's worth looking into what drives the type of attraction that appears, from the look on Xi's face, to either bore or even annoy the Chinese leader. It must also be pointed out that we see Trump extend the same fanaticism toward Putin, Mohammed Bin-Salman (The Saudi Butcher) and, to a lesser degree, Kim Jong Un.
Since we know that Trump doesn't feel true kinship or true respect, it must be that these people have something he desperately admires and deeply wants for himself. This is where the attraction becomes self-evident.
In the same way that a dad can watch interviews of Finn Wolfhard and say, "Okay, I get it, he's awfully charming," one need only look at the one thing common among each member of Trump's boy band: they all embody unfiltered power, feeding Trump's original sins — lust for hurting those who question or embarrass him, gluttony in that nothing is ever enough, jealousy, greed, and the greatest of all, pride, pride, pride.
Every member of Trump's quartet has ordered opponents killed, often their own citizens who are merely personally critical. Trump's answer? At a minimum, Trump has killed purported drug runners by missile, finishing off some swimming beside a busted boat (by proxy, possibly a war crime near the top). But just as powerful in this country, Trump "killed" access to him by networks he deemed too critical, suffocating one of this country's most cherished values: freedom of the press and freedom of speech. A political murder on Pennsylvania Avenue.
He also destroys the lives of immigrant families with an iron fist, sending moms and dads away, many after living here for decades. He kills funding for institutions that demand a diversified student body or workforce. Not technically "murder," but perhaps actions just as devastating. He uses what he can, including pardoning friends.
But it doesn't end there, of course. Does anyone think there is a committee or a court to review a Putin, MBS, or Jong-Un plan to build a new wing and ballroom? Pffft. And given that Trump sees himself as the fifth Beatle, he orders a ballroom to be put up, a triumphal arch in his honor — all those things the countries he admires have.
* Momentary pause. The United States eschews over-the-top old-world/kingdom buildings. The United States is supposed to be a young country in comparison to the great traditional European and Far Eastern nations. An understated office in an understated home office, no needless gilded gold, with tents for big supper parties, is the best of America. Trump's envy doesn't just show up in power.
But power is where his kowtowing really takes a toll. We know that Russia provided satellite data that helped Iranians target Americans. We get an anti-Ukraine message from the White House and not a peep about blowing Russia's doors off if done again.
Through a highly suspicious "error" in the shipping of F-35 parts from Australia intended for repair in the United States, the package somehow got routed through South Korea and, from there, Hong Kong. Once the parts arrived in Hong Kong, the Chinese government took control of these highly, highly sensitive parts of the plane (canopy and bomb door, critical to stealth), and China has not given them back... for nearly four months. Moreover, that decision to keep the parts could only come from the very top, the guy who looks "better than ever!" on the red carpet.
It is bad enough that corporate/national espionage may have taken place, benefiting China — that has yet to be proven. What is established is that any self-respecting American president would have been apoplectic over the bold move to simply keep the parts, which are the property of the Australian government but critical to Lockheed Martin and the United States military.
Try to imagine Trump's reaction if Canada kept the parts? Germany? Ukraine? Trump would be venomous in such a situation. But President Xi "is [his] friend," who treats Trump so well, and so Trump has to be much more careful to not shake that friendship. Trump's fan status leaves him needing that friendship, that stage; he wants to be the American Xi Jinping, leader for life.
The irony, of course, is that these other leaders once pandered to the American president's favor, thinking that personal relationships would cover over some animosity. It didn't work with any other president, with the possible exception of W. Bush's old "friendship" with the House of Saud and the Kingdom. The United States' president held the most powerful position; even if temporarily, one could count on the next one carrying out long-held U.S. policies.
Not with Trump, and that's where his fanboy status really hurts. Russia can give Iran satellite data of our troops; China can, for all intents and purposes, steal some of the most closely held American secrets. MBS can say that Saudi Arabia may immediately start building nuclear weapons. And North Korea has total freedom to send troops to Russia and can continue refining its nuclear weapons.
More irony, and this is just sad. Trump accused China of helping the Democrats "steal" the election from him. He accused China of ripping us off in trade, and it used to be his boogeyman for anything people believed involved Russia.
The U.S. relationship with China was always, always complicated by mutual needs and mutual animosity. But it is stunning to see Trump placating a man whom he accused of stealing the 2020 election (NO bigger sin in Trump's world) and really stealing our biggest secrets. Yet it's our guy who rolls out the red carpet with sea bass on the menu for a state dinner. He wants Dr. Fauci in prison.
This is what happens when fanboys lose their breath over their heroes, get giddy wanting a picture taken alongside them, attention. The difference with teens is that none would immediately toss their family and values away for lunch with Finn Wolfhard. Trump only values power, and he is a family of one, ever willing to throw his self-respect aside in pursuit of more.
The American family never factored into the equation.
Jason Miciak is a Raw Story columnist, past editor of Occupy Democrats, an author, attorney, consultant, and single parent girldad. Please follow on Bluesky, and he can be reached at jasonmiciak@gmail.com