CNBC anchor Joe Kernen appeared desperate to please President Donald Trump during a fawning interview in the Oval Office.
Kernen, 70, wasted no time repeating some of the president’s favorite boasts back to him as he sat down with Trump, 80, for an interview that aired Thursday.
“Thank you for having me in this incredible place,” Kernen said, looking around the Oval Office, which Trump has routinely boasted about since stuffing it with gold decor.
“It’s a nice place,” the president said with evident delight, taking in the Trumpified room himself.
Kernen didn’t get far before fawning over another one of Trump’s obsessions.
“I just want to start flying at about 40,000 feet, and just, what you’ve done and—pretty nice plane, lately,” the longtime Squawk Box host said with a smile, referring to the Qatari-gifted luxury Boeing 747 Trump began flying last week after having it upgraded on taxpayers’ dime to serve as Air Force One.
Kernen led by mentioning “what’s amazing about this country,” but he interrupted himself to recite one of Trump’s favorite phrases back to him.
“You always say, like, ‘Like never been seen before.’ There’s never been a country like this that’s ever been seen in the history of—” Kernen said before Trump cut him off.
“Well, a lot of people don’t understand that right now we are in a golden age,” Trump said, before turning the praise back on Kernen. “You understand it very well—you cover it very well.
At one point, Kernen told Trump, “I want you to succeed as president,” before gushing over his status as the richest person ever to live in the White House.
“I want a businessman to run the country. And all along you entered as a billionaire businessman, which was unprecedented,” he said. “But no one’s ever been as wealthy as you. And you obviously know how to run a business, and that, I think, informs the way you run the country.”
The praise appeared to serve as a prelude to a more pointed question, with Kernen continuing, “So I think we shouldn’t be surprised that your businesses are doing well. But how would you counter critics that say you’re using the presidency to enrich yourself and your family?”
Trump deflected by ranting about the stock market’s record highs, and eventually said his sons run his business when Kernen pressed again.
While ranting about electric cars, Trump appeared to unwittingly reveal that Kernen had brought his 24-year-old son to the Oval Office for the interview.
“We’re not going to have an electric mandate where everybody has to have an electric car, where your beautiful son standing over there is mandated to have an electric car,” the president told Kernen.
CNBC and the White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Trump was apparently so pleased with the interview that he told staff midway through the sit-down to give Kernen more time.
“If he needs a little more time, just relax. I’m not Kamala,” Trump said, drawing laughter from Kernen.
“Don’t be nervous, OK?” the president continued, before pointing at Kernen and saying, “He’s been my friend for a long time, and he’s a good man too.”
