Insecure Trump embarrasses himself on Asia trip by repeatedly demanding praise

Speaking with reporters on Air Force One, Trump was asked about China’s President Xi Jinping, who was described as “coming off a very successful run.”

Apparently, hearing another world leader depicted as powerful was too much for Trump. Instead of answering the question, Trump responded by praising himself.

“Excuse me, so am I,” Trump told the reporter.

“Excuse me, so am I.”—President Trump, when told China’s president is enjoying major political success https://t.co/9YqMAwqn2f

— Michael C. Bender (@MichaelCBender) November 5, 2017

Trump proceeded to heap praise on himself for the next few minutes, taking credit for economic gains in the United States and bragging about the size of the military. At one point, Trump even claimed he was solely responsible for the success of the U.S. stock market.

“[T]he reason our stock market is so successful is because of men,” Trump said, “I’ve always been great with money, I’ve always been great with jobs, that’s what I do. And I’ve done it well, I’ve done it really well, much better than people understand and they understand I’ve done well.”

This is actually not true at all — Trump’s companies filed for bankruptcy at least four times and he managed to drive multiple casinos into the ground — but he wasn’t going to let the truth get in the way of an opportunity to flatter himself.

This is just day one of Trump’s tour of Asia, but he’s already set the tone for the trip. Let the global embarrassment commence.