When we look at the behavior of the Commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces to set an example and our students and military follow that example, we cannot be surprised.
This might be cynical, but I'm not sure we can hold politicians to the same standard as the military. Their job apparently is to lie cheat and steal as much as possible and hopefully drop a few crumbs for those who support them.
This would require a dedicated military full of honest dependable people, for the same reason you'd probably chose those types to assist you in robbing a bank.
So, yes, we're viewing this in Trumpian terms because there's a very clear link to eroding trust in government institutions.