Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the power dynamics, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s White House.
It no longer bears the president’s name but the iconic Waldorf Astoria is back on the map as the hotspot for Trump world in Washington.
Over inauguration weekend, the hotel’s soaring beaux arts atrium, updated for the modern gilded age, was filled with MAGA celebs (and wanna-bes).
Saturday’s scene, witnessed by a couple of your hardship assignment reporters, provided a glimpse:
On one side of the sprawling lobby, DONALD TRUMP JR. was huddled with a crew of suits that mean business — including new business partner OMEED MALIK of conservative investment firm 1789 Capital. The two recently partnered to take the online gun retailer, GrabAGun, public.
On the other side was Trump Jr.’s former fiancee, KIMBERLY GUILFOYLE, who’s now the president’s pick for ambassador to Greece, decked out in black athleisure. The two briefly crossed paths, only a few words exchanged (at least in public).
The hotel just five blocks from the White House has volleyed in the last dozen years from run-down government building to the glitzy Trump International Hotel to the Waldorf Astoria. It became the gathering spot for Trump world during the president’s first term — with all the accompanying liabilities from Democrats who refused to spend money there. Government watchdog groups and conflict-of-interest experts were aghast at the building’s role in attracting foreign and domestic spending from groups and individuals with interests in winning DONALD TRUMP’s approval.
While the president was in his Mar-a-Lago exile, he sold the building’s long-term lease, raising questions about where Trump’s staffers and fans would gather during the second term.
Wonder no more.
The Waldorf is “experiencing a renaissance as the epicenter of conservative influence again,” said ERIN ELMORE, a Mar-a-Lago stalwart and a Trump campaign’s spokesperson throughout all three of his runs for office. “It's like America's living room has come full circle, now filled with the who's who of conservative tastemakers, echoing its past vibrancy and renewed political significance.”
Inside the Waldorf Astoria hotel entrance in Washington on Tuesday, Jan. 21, 2025. | Angelina Katsanis/POLITICO
Like anything in Trump world, even the Waldorf is not without its controversy. During Trump’s first term, critics say his ownership of the hotel violated the Emoluments Clause of the Constitution because it gave people a place to quite literally give the president money. The New York Post reported last month that Trump is weighing a bid to buy the place again.
The hotel is also home to chef JOSÉ ANDRÉS’ restaurant, The Bazaar. It’s awkward, given that Andrés refused to open his restaurant when Trump operated the hotel. Trump, who never forgets a slight, made a big show this week of firing Andrés from the President's Council on Sports, Fitness and Nutrition. Andrés says he already resigned and his term was up.
Last weekend, there was no bacon-on-a-clothing-line in sight, but freshman Sen. DAVE McCORMICK (R-Penn.) and wife DINA POWELL held court with some central seating. A variety of friends old and new passed through — including WENDI MURDOCH, SHEIN Exec DONALD TANG (dressed to the nines), former White House lawyer JIM SCHULTZ and TONY SAYEGH, former spokesperson for Treasury Secretary STEVEN MNUCHIN.
Also spotted: DAVID SACKS, the new White House AI and Crypto czar (what does he think of the $MELANIA meme coin?), Rumble CEO CHRIS PAVLOVSKI, former campaign co-manager CHRIS LaCIVITA, and Trump’s new “Special Missions” Envoy, RICHARD GRENELL.
“If you wanted to see or be seen by President Trump’s White House team, Cabinet and supporters you know you could do any of that at the Trump-now-Waldorf hotel,” said TAMMY HADDAD, CEO of Haddad Media and the mayor of D.C.’s establishment political scene. “That lobby is such a beautiful big space to hang with your friend squad and also get a good peek at everyone’s else’s.”
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POTUS PUZZLER
When did the U.S. Naval Observatory become the residence of the vice president?
(Answer at bottom.)
The Oval
THE TRUMP DOCTRINE: MONEY TALKS. In a speech to the global business and political elites gathered in Davos, Switzerland, Trump threatened widespread tariffs on foreign goods, laying out what he called a “simple” choice: “Come make your product in America and we’ll give you among the lowest taxes of any nation on earth,” Trump said. “If you don’t make your product in America, which is your prerogative, you will have to pay a tariff.”
As our ELI STOKOLSreports, the president held up Saudi Arabia, which has already announced a desire to increase trade with the U.S. by $600 billion, as an example of another country aligning itself with his mercantilist approach to the world. He added that he planned to ask Crown Prince MOHAMMED BIN SALMAN, “who’s a fantastic guy, to round it out to $1 trillion.”
Trump also blamed OPEC for the carnage in Ukraine, asserting that the war “would end immediately” if the price of oil dropped; and he expressed a desire to meet soon with Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN to negotiate an end to the conflict.
AND IN CASE YOU THOUGHT HE WAS JOKING … Trump held his first foreign leader call on Thursday with the Saudi crown prince. According to a White House readout, the two leaders discussed regional security issues in the Middle East and “the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s international economic ambitions over the next four years as well as trade and other opportunities to increase the mutual prosperity of the United States and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.”
ALSO ON DAVOS: The speech wasn’t notable just for the words, Eli writes in. Behind the president was The Great Seal of the United States, the same image of a bald eagle, a shield of stars and stripes and the country’s motto, E Pluribus Unum, that’s embossed into passports and printed on dollar bills.
The eagle grips a bunch of olive branches in one talon and arrows in the other, symbolic of both peace and war. According to the State Department’s website, “the eagle always casts its gaze toward the olive branch signifying that our nation desires to pursue peace but stands ready to defend itself.”
The seal on Trump's lectern showed the eagle turned to the left, facing the peaceful olive branches. But the image of the seal used in the digital backdrop behind Trump had the eagle’s head turned toward the arrows, aka, war.
A message from GE Vernova:
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THE BUREAUCRATS
THE DRIP … Sens. LISA MURKOWSKI (R-Alaska) and SUSAN COLLINS (R-Maine) both announced on Thursday that they would vote against confirming Defense secretary nominee PETE HEGSETH — but the former Fox News personality has still advanced one step closer to leading the agency.
The Senate voted 51-49 to cut off debate on Hegseth’s nomination and move forward with a final vote that could come as late as this weekend.
Just before the vote, Murkowski wrote on X: “After thorough evaluation, I must conclude that I cannot in good conscience support his nomination for Secretary of Defense ... The past behaviors Mr. Hegseth has admitted to, including infidelity on multiple occasions, demonstrate a lack of judgment that is unbecoming of someone who would lead our armed forces.”
Hegseth can lose one more GOP vote and still get confirmed by a tie-breaking vote from Vice President JD VANCE. Keep your eye on two more swing senators: MITCH McCONNELL and THOM TILLIS.
MORE CONFIRMATION BATTLES: Director of National Intelligence nominee TULSI GABBARD will appear in front of the Senate Intelligence Committee on Jan. 30 — and she’s still facing an uphill climb to getting confirmed, our JORDAIN CARNEYreports. At least two Republican members of the committee remain on the fence, raising the prospect that she could be at risk of not even advancing out of the panel.
In other news:
JOHN RATCLIFFE was confirmed as CIA director by a wide margin.
VA secretary pick DOUG COLLINS’, Interior secretary pick DOUG BURGUM’s and Energy secretary pick CHRIS WRIGHT’s nominations all advanced through their respective Senate committees on bipartisan votes.
But the Senate Banking Committee advanced HUD secretary nominee SCOTT TURNERalong party lines, with Dems voting no over concerns about his unfinished FBI background check.
And lawmakers of both parties pressed Ag secretary nominee BROOKE ROLLINS on protecting farmers from any fallout from upcoming trade wars.
THEY’RE FIGHTING (AGAIN): The feud between ELON MUSK and SAM ALTMAN won’t end. Last night, the two tech billionaires continued to fight for Trump’s attention.
Musk dug up a 2021 tweet in which Altman praised REID HOFFMAN’s efforts to torpedo the president’s reelection chances: “It seems reasonably likely to me that Trump would still be in office without his efforts,” Altman wrote at the time. “Thank you, Reid!”
Musk also shared a post from another user claiming that Altman is “funding far left wing media” outlets like Axios which have pushed “every anti @realDonaldTrump hoax under the sun.”
Altman kept things a bit more cordial and backtracked on his past criticisms toward the president. “Watching @potus more carefully recently has really changed my perspective on him (i wish i had done more of my own thinking and definitely fell in the npc trap),” he wrote. (If you are an NPC reading this newsletter, don’t take it personally.)
THE ONE PARDON TRUMP FORGOT: There’s one media-personality-turned-failed-presidential-candidate who would like a pardon, Mr. President. And his name is JOE EXOTIC, the man who has been serving a 21-year sentence for his murder-for-hire plot against animal-rights activist CAROLE BASKIN.
For the past several days, Joe, also known as “The Tiger King,” has felt left out of the pardon party. In a post on Instagram, Joe Exotic shared a drawing of an emo KABUTO from the “Naruto” series, with the following caption: “President Trump. You forgot me …. Again.”
He later posted that he has full confidence that the president will let him out of jail. Time will tell.
A message from GE Vernova:
Agenda Setting
RUNNING THROUGH THOSE SHARPIES: Trump signed a slew of executive orders in the Oval Office on Thursday afternoon. He pardoned 23 anti-abortion protesters who were convicted during the Biden administration of blocking access to and temporarily shutting down abortion clinics. Trump also declassified files related to the assassinations of MARTIN LUTHER KING JR., JOHN F. KENNEDY and ROBERT F. KENNEDY. The pen he used to sign the declassification order will be given to ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR., Trump said.
And he signed an order to develop a cryptocurrency working group, with David Sacks standing by his side.
THERE’S MORE TO COME: A federal judge temporarily blocked Trump’s executive order seeking to end the granting of American citizenship to children born in the country, regardless of their parents’ immigration status, our JOSH GERSTEINreports. On Thursday, U.S. District Judge JOHN C. COUGHENOUR ruled that the president’s birthright citizenship order violates the 14th Amendment’s citizenship clause and issued a temporary restraining order preventing Trump from carrying it out.
It comes after 22 states and a number of immigrants rights groups across the country joined lawsuits to challenge the order.
EVERYTHING RIDES ON CHUCK: The core of Trump’s agenda runs through Iowa Sen. CHUCK GRASSLEY, who has been in the chamber longer than JD Vance has been alive. Trump must count on the 91-year-old man, who is the Senate Judiciary Chair, for everything from remaking the immigration system to unraveling the so-called “deep state,” our HAILEY FUCHSreports.
According to interviews with a dozen lawmakers, lobbyists and other current and former GOP officials, some Republicans are privately questioning whether Grassley is too old for a job this central.
They acknowledge that he appears capable now but there are concerns about the precarity of his health. “Statistically speaking, he could kick the bucket at any moment — like, what happens then?” said one Republican who has worked with the Senate Judiciary Committee, pointing specifically to the panel’s jurisdiction over immigration issues. “And will there be disruption to the Trump agenda? … That takes stamina that you could say a 91-year-old doesn’t have.”
Powering America's Future Today. As the leading American energy manufacturer, we've never stopped building the technologies that drive today's economy and define the future of energy. We know an abundant, independent, and secure energy system starts here at home. It's why we're investing millions in American manufacturing and creating thousands of new jobs. Learn more.
POTUS PUZZLER ANSWER
Vice presidents typically lived in their own homes, but eventually, it became too expensive to secure these private residences. In 1974, Congress agreed to refurbish the house at the Naval Observatory as a home for the vice president and their families — and three years later, WALTER MONDALE was the first to move in.
A CALL OUT! Do you think you have a harder trivia question? Send us your best one about the presidents, with a citation or sourcing, and we may feature it!
Edited by Jennifer Haberkorn, Noah Bierman and Rishika Dugyala
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