Mike Johnson Crafts A New Bogus Award For Trump's Ego & The Response Is Deafening
As the president, Donald Trump often has to hand out awards. However, he'd clearly rather be on the receiving end of them. In one of the most embarrassing moments at Trump's 2026 State of the Union address, he confessed, "I've always wanted the Congressional Medal of Honor, but I was informed I'm not allowed to give it to myself," (via PBS). Luckily for the divisive politician, new awards just keep getting created for him. In March 2026, just months after Trump's gigantic ego was assuaged by the FIFA Peace Prize, the president "won" the inaugural America First Award. Speaker of the House Mike Johnson made a gushing speech during a Republican fundraising event, explaining that Trump was getting the gold statue, "Because of his accomplishments and because of his willingness to work literally around the clock to fix every issue," (via YouTube).
Mike Johnson: Tonight we have created a new award. We are going to do something we've never done before. We will honor him with a new award. He is the first ever recipient of the America first award. That is this beautiful golden statue here, appropriate for the golden era. pic.twitter.com/SFp174yTWo
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 25, 2026
Not surprisingly, netizens weren't impressed. "How many participation trophies does he need?" wondered one such user on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Easily flattered with cheap meaningless trinkets!" remarked another. Plenty of people were even more disgusted by Johnson's pile-on of compliments. "This. Is. A. Cult," asserted one. But, when Trump inevitably took the stage, he simply pointed and smiled at the award since it was pretty far away from the podium. Instead, the controversial leader stood onstage, swaying to "Proud to Be an American" and chatting with Johnson off mic. Trump's second term has been full of egotistical endeavors, and it appears that accolades are just a normal part of his day now. Upon taking the mic, he didn't specifically mention the award.
Donald Trump has his eye on bigger prizes
For some viewers, Mike Johnson's award presentation was incredible — in the truest meaning of the word. "Is this real or am I watching a SNL episode???" inquired one such Facebook user. In this case, though, it was more like life imitating art than the other way around. "Saturday Night Live" already did a "Trump Awards" sketch in January 2026. To make the situation even more uncanny, former "SNL" star Michael McKean critiqued Johnson's speech. "High farce," he stated plainly on X. Unfortunately for Johnson, the president might be running out of display space in Trump's tacky Oval Office. The mantel is already full of golden objects, including awards that don't belong to the divisive politician, like the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, and the infamous hand-me-down Nobel Peace Prize.
In addition, timing may have also played a part in Trump's underwhelming reaction to the American First Award. The day before, he proudly announced Iran had given him a mystery item that likely upstaged the gilded eagle sculpture. "It was a very big present, worth a tremendous amount of money, and I'm not going to tell you what that present is," the president teased (via YouTube), adding, "It was oil and gas related and it was a very nice thing." On "Jimmy Kimmel Live!" the eponymous host couldn't resist making some guesses about the gift. "Who would have ever guessed he could be easily manipulated by expensive gifts? Maybe they gave him a medal that says world's greatest enemy," Kimmel quipped.