The comments reminded me of a Washington Post report published in October:

As President Donald Trump was addressing the Israeli Knesset on Monday, he pointed at Israel Defense Forces Chief Eyal Zamir and said, ‘You know, the guy’s central casting. Let’s put him in a movie. Look at him.’

A few minutes later, he was reminiscing with the Israeli lawmakers about meeting Gen. Dan Caine, now the U.S. chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and other military leaders. ‘Everybody was like central casting,’ Trump said.

Everyone has certain words and phrases they use as part of their everyday vocabulary, but Trump’s fixation on “central casting” seems more than a rhetorical tic — it’s a reflection of how he assesses those around him.

In 2018, for example, when Trump had to choose his second Supreme Court nominee, Politico quoted a White House insider who said, “Beyond the qualifications, what really matters is, does this nominee fit a central casting image for a Supreme Court nominee, as well as his or her spouse. That’s a big deal. Do they fit the role?”....

The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty told MS NOW after the 2016 election that “central casting” is “actually a phrase [Trump] uses quite a bit behind the scenes.”

A decade later, his preoccupation with how people present themselves has, if anything, intensified. It’s as if the president sees himself as the executive producer of an elaborate show — because, to a very real extent, that’s exactly how he perceives his role.