Trump craves praise. We praise him for bombings. What possibly could go wrong?

[Cattledog]

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/opinion/trump-craves-praise-we-praise-him-for-bombings-what-possibly-could-go-wrong/article34703117/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&service=mobile

Sarah Kendzior is a commentator based in St. Louis, Mo., who writes about politics, the economy and media.

A week ago, the Trump administration was in trouble. Its health-care plan failed, the President's ratings were at a record low and more nefarious campaign dealings with Russia had been revealed. The LA Times ran a viral, multipart series outlining that Mr. Trump is an authoritarian leader who lies compulsively and is unfit to hold office.

But by the end of the week, an LA Times columnist awarded Trump's week a "B" for a job well done. That job, of course, was bombing Syria.

When the media cheers Mr. Trump's bombing, seemingly forgetting the policy failures that preceded those explosions, we're all in danger. He is a man who craves praise – and if he receives it through brute force, he'll keep doing it.

Case in point: On Thursday, Mr. Trump dropped something called "the mother of all bombs" – a bomb so large it's never been used in combat – in eastern Afghanistan.

He seeks praise for this – and hopes that the smoke will hide all of his many transgressions.

Flailing leaders, particularly of the more authoritarian bent, frequently engage in military actions to divert from domestic disasters and to rally the country around a unifying cause.

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