Deadline Poet / May 13, 2025

Flattery Will Get You Everywhere

Calvin Trillin
Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025.
Donald Trump in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, on March 6, 2025.(Mandel Ngan / Getty)
“Would it be possible to have a cabinet meeting without
the Kim Jong Il–style tributes?”—Ann Coulter,
regarding Donald Trump’s cabinet meetings

A Trumpworld figure isn’t judged
On how he carries out some duty.
It’s more about the kisses he
Can plant on Donald Trump’s patootie.

Calvin Trillin

Calvin Trillin is The Nation’s “deadline poet.”

More from The Nation

Does Dementia Have You?

Does Dementia Have You? Does Dementia Have You?

Take this simple test.

OppArt / Ruben Bolling

Donald Trump during a cabinet meeting at the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2025.

A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred A Desperate Trump Is Stirring Up Race Hatred

A barrage of bad economic news has spurred Trump to unleash his hate-infested id on any nonwhite target that flits through his overtaxed brainpan.

Chris Lehmann

Woman, Life, Freedom

Woman, Life, Freedom Woman, Life, Freedom

Posters in support of the people of Iran displayed at the Palais de Tokyo in Paris, France.

OppArt / Andrea Arroyo

Cow

Cow Cow

Invasion.

OppArt / Steve Brodner

Olivia Nuzzi at the White House Correspondents’ Association dinner in Washington, DC, in 2023, when she was Washington correspondent for New York magazine.

I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi I Still Feel a Tiny Bit Sorry for Olivia Nuzzi

She violated every journalism ethics code. But her childhood set her up to fall for a string of incompetent daddy-figures too lame to protect her.

Joan Walsh

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism The White House Press Tracker Is a Parody of Media Criticism

With his approval number plummeting, Trump turns to a familiar strategy: launch a culture war against journalists.

Chris Lehmann