They have become so notorious for displays of flattery and obsequiousness that critics have drawn comparisons with North Korea. Thursday’s cabinet meeting at the White House was no different.

Doug Burgum, the US interior secretary, outflanked his fellow praise singers by saying he believes that Venezuela – which the US attacked in January – intends to honour the president with a statue.

Trump had brought up the subject by claiming the raid that captured president Nicolás Maduro, who was replaced by interim leader Delcy Rodríguez, was a win-win situation.

“We’ve made a lot of money and they’ve made a lot of money,” Trump declared. “I am the highest polling person. In other words, after the presidency I think I may go to Venezuela and run for president against Delcy. I may run against Delcy. It’s an option. They love me in Venezuela.”

Later in the meeting, Burgum, who recently visited Venezuela with oil and mining executives, sensed his opportunity. He said: “I literally think they’re going to put up a statue to President Trump and I’m not being – it’s not a political statement.”

Duly hooked, Trump interjected: “That would be a great honour!”

Someone in the room laughed, and Trump chuckled too. But Burgum was in full flow: “No, because it’s like they view President Trump like [independence hero] Simón Bolívar. He’s the liberator of a country and this is a country where they love American baseball … [and] you look on the street, they’re wearing NBA jerseys.”

Burgum added that, during his recent trip, the media had been allowed to visit Venezuela’s equivalent of the White House, the Miraflores Palace, for the first time in 20 years. He said there were encouraging signs for US businesses returning and for oil production. But Trump’s mind was still elsewhere.

“Forget that,” the president interjected. “When are they going to do the statue?” The room erupted in laughter.

Trump has long had a special interest in statues. He has railed against protesters who toppled Confederate statues, proposed a National Garden of American Heroes and this week installed a Christopher Columbus statue on the White House grounds. Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna has proposed carving Trump’s face on Mount Rushmore in South Dakota.

The exchange was just one surreal moment in another weird and wild cabinet meeting, the first since the war in Iran broke out. Trump claimed that Iran has been “beat to shit” and accused British prime minister Keir Starmer of a “shocking” lack of support. He went on a long riff about the merits of Sharpies over what he claimed were the $1,000 pens that presidents typically use to sign bills.

He also made offensive comments about Gavin Newsom, the governor of California and a potential 2028 presidential candidate, who has spoken publicly about his dyslexia. “Gavin Newscum, who is one of the candidates, I believe he took himself out of the running when he says he suffers from mental disability.

“I don’t want a person with mental disability to be my president. You don’t want to have a person with mental disability being your president and Gavin Newsom said he can’t read a speech, he can’t do almost anything.”

Trump added: “He’s actually a very stupid person so I believe he’s out of the running … I don’t want a stupid person being president.”

The 79-year-old went on to boast about his own mental capacity. “I’m the only president that ever took a cognitive test. I took it three times. It’s actually a very hard test for a lot of people. It wasn’t hard for me. But it’s a cognitive test.

“It starts off with an easy question and by the time you get to the middle it gets tougher – by the time you get to the end, very few people can answer those questions. They get very tough. Mathematical equations and things.”

Trump added: “I took it three times. I aced it all three times in front of numerous doctors that I have no idea who they are… I got ‘em all right and one doctor said I’ve never seen anybody get ‘em all right; I’ve been doing the test for 20 years.”