What did Donald Trump do today?

He continued to press the claim that he'd saved the American economy before even taking office, literally thanking himself for an uptick in the Consumer Confidence Index for December.

Trump has been claiming credit for all manner of (positive) things since Election Day, whether or not he had anything to do with them. However, as the Washington Post noted, his claim that he's behind a spike in the CCI is fairly plausible. The reason, however, is not especially flattering to Trump: it came from increased short-term expectations (which the index's compilers track separately from answers about the present state of the economy), and almost exclusively among Republican responders. 

In other words, Trump's voting base expects him to succeed, and a survey reflected that fact.

How is this a bad thing?

• Presidents, if they must thank themselves publicly, should do so for things they have accomplished rather than things they're expected to do in the future.

• It's bad if a president feels the need to publicly thank himself.