Trump said the quiet part out loud on how he chooses friends – and it’s what people have suspected for years

Donald Trump essentially said the quiet part out loud regarding how he determines if he likes someone – and it’s what people have suspected for years.

Just a matter of hours before US president Trump was due to give a national address on Iran on Wednesday (1 April), he hosted an Easter lunch at the White House where he gave a lengthy talk to those in attendance.

As we’ve become accustomed to, his speech covered a mish-mash of topics, with one remark dubbed as a “rare moment of total honesty”. It started off as a claim about alleged “regime change” in Iran and completely veered as the 79-year-old became distracted.

“We have a regime change like nobody thought was possible. They said, ‘What do you mean you have regime change?’” Trump said, becoming distracted after recognising someone in the audience.

“My friend, great show. I love this guy. He’s so nice to me. Every time I watch ... you know, we’re not supposed to be seduced that way, right, but I am. When somebody’s nice to me, I love that person. Even if they’re bad people, I couldn’t care less. I’ll fight to the end for them.”

“It’s always incredibly sad when Trump speaks truthfully,” someone wrote.

Another said: “And herein lies the fundamental personality flaw of President Donald Trump....”

Someone else argued: “I’ve never in my life seen a narcissist break the fourth wall so intentionally and regularly I’m —”

“There are rare moments of just total honesty from Trump. He has said this many times before. It's the ultimate proof of what a narcissist he is but also how amoral: he ‘couldn't care less’ if you're a bad person as long as you are ‘nice’ to him.

“This is the evangelicals’ hero,” critic Mehdi Hasan wrote.

“This is so moving,” someone else mocked.

Another suggested: “This seems like an accurate summary of how he sees the world.”

Elsewhere, at the lunch, Trump told the audience: “Tonight I’m making a little speech at 9 o’clock and basically I’m gonna tell everybody how great I am.”

Someone commented: “I did not think this was real, but he really said it.”

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