War and Inflation? Relax. Trump Did You a ‘Favor.’

They booed President Donald Trump’s motorcade as it made its way to Madison Square Garden for Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Monday night. They raised their middle fingers and lowered their thumbs. They waved signs saying “Nobody wants you here” and “Trump must go.”

“Go Knicks! F--- Trump,” they chanted.

But it was during the national anthem when Trump really heard what New Yorkers thought of him. Right after the twilight’s last gleaming, the jumbotron flashed to the owner’s box, where the president snapped a salute. The crowd erupted in boos — and Trump responded with a contemptuous grin.

As well he might! Those ungrateful New Yorkers clearly don’t understand the benevolence Trump has bestowed on them, and on the rest of us.

In his “Meet the Press” interview broadcast Sunday — in which he told NBC’s Kristen Welker “You’re either crooked or you’re stupid” before yanking his mic and cutting off the interview — he explained that his war with Iran is a great and selfless gift to the world.

“I’m doing you and everybody else a big favor,” he said, recalling that he had told his advisers that “I have to do this country, this world, the Middle East, Israel, everybody a favor.” And not just a favor: “I’m doing the world a service, but I’m doing our country a service.”

Had he not made this altruistic gesture? Iran “would right now have a nuclear weapon,” the president said, “and it could be that half of the world would be eradicated already.”

Half of humanity — 4.1 billion people — saved by Trump’s favor. No wonder he likes to portray himself as Jesus.

Yet people just aren’t appreciating his magnanimity. And so, as high inflation and a Middle East morass drag his approval rating into the 30s, his presidency has entered the Sulky Stage.

If he hadn’t made it clear enough on “Meet the Press” that all praise was due him, he did so more explicitly in a Truth Social post Saturday celebrating the “powerful, Dark Blue surface of the Reflecting Pool” — brought to you by Trump (and a $13 million no-bid contract). “Thank you President Trump,” Trump wrote in the post.

Because Trump has aced his cognitive test (“four times in a row”!), he is no doubt aware that he risks starting a “Thanks, Obama”-type meme in which people ironically thank him for their problems. Four-dollars-a-gallon gas? Thanks, Trump.

Trump has thanked himself only sparingly in the past, such as when he wrote himself a thank you post for swarming D.C. with federal police in 2020. Last fall, he posted a photo of himself with the caption, “I want to thank Donald Trump for working like a dog for no money to save a Country that doesn’t appreciate his sacrifice! Thank you Mr President!”

Mostly, he prefers to hire people to thank him. “Thank you, President Trump,” proclaimed banners that went up around the capital city last year, installed by … the Trump administration.

The New York Times reports that, at his Cabinet meetings, his advisers flatter him, give him credit or criticize his opponents in at least one of every six sentences. They were at it again on May 27: “Thank you for your leadership, sir.” “I hear it everywhere I go: ‘Please, thank the president.’” “They thank you. They love you.” “He deserves great credit.” “Speaks to the strength of your leadership.”

But most Americans are emphatically not thanking him, as seen in his record-low polling (35% in The Economist’s latest tracker).

A judge has ordered that his name be stripped from the Kennedy Center — what kind of thanks is that? His stalwart ally, Israel’s Benjamin Netanyahu, has been a picture of ingratitude, ignoring Trump’s admonition not to retaliate against Iran and causing Trump to protest to the Financial Times: “I call the shots. He doesn’t call the shots.”

The House of Representatives defied him on funding for Ukraine and is about to do the same in rejecting his $1.8 billion “weaponization” slush fund, which Trump continues to insist is “a great idea.” His administration’s effort to renew a vital surveillance program has been knocked off course in the Senate because of his decision to install atop the nation’s intelligence services a political hack with no national security experience.

The dissed president claims not to care about his reversals of fortune. About the Iran peace talks: “I couldn’t care less.” About economic strains: “I don’t think about Americans’ financial situation.” About the November election: “I don’t care about the midterms.” About “everyday Americans” being unable to afford the $8,000-a-ticket price for the Knicks game he attended: “That’s the way life goes.”

“Just sit back and relax, it will all work out well in the end. It always does!” Trump advised those “chirping” about his handling of the Iran war.

But Trump, so serene and unperturbable about others’ problems, is rather less inclined to relax when it comes to receiving the recognition he is due. Just as his name was being removed from the Kennedy Center, he started touting plans for a “Trump Promenade” from the Lincoln Memorial to the Potomac. His administration is producing a commemorative gold coin with his face on it, and it has directed the Treasury to design a $250 bill also featuring his likeness.

After a Times report questioned his Reflecting Pool project, he posted a subordinate’s memo boasting about the pool’s new expansion joints (“passed testing flawlessly,” “in perfect condition,” “perfectly sealed”). It was remarkably similar to his post about his physical exam (“extremely good,” “a perfect 30 out of 30,” “all PERFECT”).

His expansion joints are working perfectly!

And when musicians pulled out of a planned concert on the National Mall to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday because Trump had politicized the event, a wounded Trump proposed canceling the concert in favor of an appearance by the “Number One Attraction anywhere in the World”: himself.

Suggested songs:

“All I Do Is Win”

“Must Be Me”

“I’m the One”

“Thank Me Now”

His Cabinet can sing backup.

In the Welker interview, Trump presented his familiar reasons for why he deserves praise. America’s military: “I built it, frankly.” The stock market: “We had 73 all-time highs.” The southern border: “Best border in history.” The Iran war: “I demolished their leaders.” He insisted he “didn’t promise anything” about avoiding wars (his actual words in 2024: “I’m not going to start wars”).

Yet, almost in passing, he seemed to acknowledge it was his own choices that put the country where it is now, with the Strait of Hormuz blocked, high grocery and fuel prices, fading hopes for lower interest rates and troubles for his party in the midterms.

“I had a choice to make,” he said. “I could keep it going. The farmers were doing great. Fertilizer was very cheap. Everything was cheap. Gasoline was very low. Everything was very low. I could’ve kept it that way. But I said, ‘I have to take a little bit of a turn.’”

And so he did. Thanks, Trump.

Dana Milbank is a NOTUS Perspectives columnist.