Top Democrat: Trump wants 'people kissing his ass,’ pandemic ‘hasn’t changed him' one bit

House Armed Services Chairman Rep. Adam Smith says the coronavirus pandemic "hasn't changed" President Trump "one tiny little bit" and that demoting the inspector general overseeing the $2 trillion COVID-19 stimulus funding shows Trump only wants people around him "kissing his ass."

President Trump on Tuesday removed Glenn Fine as the Pentagon’s acting inspector general.

"He wants people who are loyal to him, who will praise him, first and foremost. That is what he wants in every position that he can control, he's going to try to expand what he can control," Smith (Washington Democrat) told reporters on a conference call Tuesday.

Smith explained that he understands the president cannot have people “criticizing" his actions, “sniping at” him and “going off message” every day but said Trump “doesn’t want any information he doesn’t like.”

Smith told reporters he thought acting Navy Secretary Thomas Modly sounded like he was doing a “half-ass imitation” of Trump when speaking to the crew of the USS Roosevelt about firing Capt. Brett Crozier – a speech that resulted in Modly resigning later in the day. 

Smith, who had called for Modly’s removal, mentioned a recent interview Modly gave about the situation on the USS Roosevelt and described what he viewed as the “most chilling aspect” of it.

“He seemed to be saying that look, ‘I know what I should have done. But what I had to do is I had to think: What would President Trump want me to do? How would I react in a way that would be in keeping with his leadership – and I use the word very loosely — style' ” Smith said.

“The president — this [coronavirus] crisis hasn’t changed him one tiny little bit. He is approaching it the same way he has approached everything else. What he cares about is people kissing his ass. Whether the job gets done, that’s secondary.”

Addressing the leaked audio of Modly speaking to the crew on the ship, Smith described the remarks as a “half-ass imitation" of Trump giving a speech.

Smith added that there's no evidence he's aware of that suggests Trump directly interfered with the Modly and Crozier situation but thinks the "creeping influence of Trump's approach" is "undermining the decision-making process" at the Department of Defense.

"When I listened to the speech that acting Secretary Modly gave, it was almost like he was trying to do, sort-of, a half-ass imitation of how Donald Trump would have given a speech. It wasn't what I would have expected from the Thomas Modly that I know, OK? So now he's trying to figure out, OK, forgive me for this line but I'll throw it out there, what would the narcissist do?" Smith said, describing what Modly might have been thinking.

"Competent capable people are trying to figure out how to exist in a world where they are led by someone who is neither competent nor capable. And yes, I'm worried that's causing problems and that was what really troubled me was, what on earth would cause the acting secretary to think that speech was a good idea?"