What did Donald Trump do today?

He got celebrated by two of his favorite people.

Trump celebrated Thanksgiving as he does many holidays—by sarcastically mocking Americans who didn't vote for him. But he also was on the receiving end of well-wishes from two extremely influential men in his life: Vladimir Putin and Elon Musk.

Putin, speaking today to Russian media, called him a "real man" and "intelligent." Trump's fascination with Putin, whose regime has interfered on his behalf in each of the last three presidential elections, is widely known. As Russia's intelligence head put it:

The election campaign is over. To achieve success in the election, Donald Trump relied on certain forces to which he has corresponding obligations. As a responsible person, he will be obliged to fulfill them.

Putin is a former KGB spymaster who has enjoyed forcing Trump into bizarrely submissive demonstrations of loyalty, such as the 2018 press conference in Helsinki, Finland, where he got Trump to say that he trusted Putin's word over that of the U.S. intelligence community—something that horrified virtually every Republican who was asked about it. Trump is also financially reliant on Putin to prop up his ramshackle business empire.

Trump also received holiday greetings from Elon Musk, whose financial backing has proved equally important, and who has been even less restrained about flaunting his influence over Trump since the election. (Trump staffers infuriated by Musk's imposition on the transition have accused him of trying to become "co-president.") Musk sat himself at the head table with Trump and members of his family for Thanksgiving dinner.

Why does this matter?

• It's bad that the President of the United States can be this easily manipulated.

• Russia is a hostile foreign power and does not have the United States' best interests at heart.