Leaders who need handholding

Recently, Donald Trump was asked about going for intelligence briefing and he requested for a Ret. Lt. Gen. Flynn to attend the session with him. When asked by the Fox News reporter the reason for the choice, he said the following reasons:

• a real fan of mine
• defender of mine
• terrific guy
• Feels like I do about illegal immigration
• He wants to make sure the right people are coming into our country

To be fair, added in the middle of the commentary, he also added 

• a terrific general (This is a little obvious since Flynn would not have been promoted to his last rank if he was incompetent. Even if he did use any machiavellian methods to rise to the top, a serious misstep would have derailed him.) 
• tough (A little difficult claim as this general is working in intelligence rather than a field command.)
• smart (Working in Intelligence and a Lt. Gen, it is obvious.) 

What scares me about Trump is that for the first intelligence briefing, he feels that he needs a fan and a defender. It is an intelligence briefing, not a critique of policy or a debate. People briefing will be giving you facts and try to make sense of the data from the ground. Having a fan or a defender is not going to change anything . Trump appears so incompetent that he needs Flynn to back him up to ask intelligent questions and summarize (Dumb down) things for him. 

The comment about "Terrific guy" worries me as it appears to be rather generic. It makes the "terrific general", "tough" and "smart" comments all sound canned. We logically expect soldiers to be tough so it is not exactly very informative. 

The worst praise from Trump was the part where he mentioned about Flynn has similar feeling and wants about the immigration policies of US of A. The first thing that all advisers know is that their advices are not subordinated to their preferences. Advisers have to present their advice objectively. I think Trump has confused the role of advisers with cheerleaders.