WASHINGTON (AP) ā Near the end of marathon Cabinet meeting Wednesday, noted that the U.S. has brought home 47 wrongfully detained Americans so far in Trumpās second term.
āForty-seven for the 47th president in the first 100 days,ā Rubio said. āAnd thatās all credit to you, Mr. President.ā
Earlier in the session, mused that āmostā of the presidents whose portraits adorn the Oval Office ā which include Ronald Reagan, James Madison, George Washington and Abraham Lincoln ā were mere āplaceholdersā who werenāt āmen of action.ā
And observed that Trump was ānot just courageous, youāre actually fearlessā in taking on issues that other presidents dare not touch.
āAll of us can sprint, because youāre running ahead,ā Burgum said.
Trump, never bashful about his achievements, But in a two-hour game of one-upmanship before the television cameras on Wednesday, top Cabinet officials took turns drenching the president with praise that went beyond even the from those who work for Trump.
The president assembled his Cabinet at the White House to celebrate the 100-day mark of his second term, and each had been presented a āGulf of Americaā hat, in reference to the order Trump issues to change the name for the Gulf of Mexico, although that only has authority within the United States.
Trump opened by noting that āthings are happening that are amazing, but I would not say it if it werenāt fact.ā
From there, the president let others do the talking.
There was Attorney General Pam Bondi, who claimed that Trump in his second term saved ā258 million livesā 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 āyour vision and leadership, for giving me the 100 busiest days of my life.ā Rubio said the 47 wrongfully detained Americans were returned home due to Trumpās āleadership and the diplomacy that was exercised.ā However, the list of Americans was not immediately made public, and it was not clear which were being included in the tally.
āI 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,ā said Lee Zeldin, the administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency, who has served in the military for more than two decades.
Not surprisingly, the lovefest in the Cabinet Room glossed over the turmoil that has been roiling the early days of Trumpās return to the White House: the nosediving stock market and a contracting economy, revelations that his senior officials were careless, at best, with sensitive military information.
The gushing went too far even for some who otherwise back Trumpās policies and agenda.
āWould it be possible to have a cabinet meeting without the Kim Jong il-style tributes?ā conservative commentator Ann Coulter wrote on the social media site X, referring to the North Korean dictator.
Indeed, the praise wasnāt devoted just to the commander-in-chief. As an effusive Burgum spoke, he noted the āamazing group of people around the tableā and added a quick aside to Trump: āYou probably assembled the greatest Cabinet ever.ā
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An earlier version of this story identified Doug Burgum as energy secretary. He is interior secretary.
Seung Min Kim (), The Associated Press
