There’s just something about airplanes that captures Donald Trump’s attention in unhealthy ways.
Politico reported the other day on a White House meeting the president hosted with the New York and New Jersey congressional delegations, which at face value, only seemed notable because it included another private chat between Trump and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.). But at the end of the article, we learned that the otherwise-pleased president had one odd concern on his mind during the Oval Office discussion.
The president, though, had one gripe, after his visit from the emir of Kuwait on Thursday afternoon. He was very impressed by the emir’s plane but noted that it was longer than his — maybe even by 100 feet.
Now, for the record, I have no idea whether the Kuwaiti emir’s plane is bigger than the American president’s plane. I also don’t care. Donald Trump, however, apparently focuses his attention on such things.
And while that’s a little weird, let’s also pause to appreciate the apparent fact that the president also felt compelled to complain about this during a meeting with lawmakers. In other words, Trump wasn’t bothered by the size of some other guy’s plane; he also wanted people to know he was bothered by the size of some other guy’s plane.
What’s more, if you’re thinking this isn’t the first time the president’s preoccupation with airplanes has led in a weird direction, you’re right.
As we recently discussed, Trump hosted a White House press conference two weeks ago alongside President Sauli Niinisto of Finland, in which the American leader bragged that Finland is “purchasing large amounts of our great F-18 aircraft.” We learned soon after that the boast wasn’t true.
Trump has also been caught falsely bragging about lowering the price of a new Air Force One. Around the same time, he claimed he saved taxpayers millions on F-35 fighter jets, and it wasn’t long before we learned that wasn’t true, either.
Maybe this is a subject the president should start avoiding?
Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."