Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the power dynamics, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s White House.
Send tips | Subscribe here | Email Sophia | Email Irie | Email Ben FLOODING THE ZONE: President DONALD TRUMP can’t get enough of the cameras. Trump is turning events that other presidents would pass by with little fanfare into full-blown news conferences — and reporters in the White House press corps now assume anything labeled “closed press” the night before will transform into a media spectacle. Take Thursday: The president was scheduled to sign an executive order imposing new tariffs; swear in Health and Human Services Secretary ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.; greet Indian Prime Minister NARENDRA MODI; meet with Modi in the Oval Office; and hold a press conference with him. That’s five opportunities to speak with reporters or pose for photos. That’s not to mention the news out of the Office of Personnel Management Wednesday night that the deferred resignation program was ending immediately, sending reporters and federal employees alike scrambling to figure out what it all means. Trump, who reached his zenith of celebrity as a reality star on “The Apprentice,” knows the art of the tease. He previewed his executive order signing on Truth Social as a “NEWS CONFERENCE ON RECIPROCAL TARIFFS TODAY, 1:00 P.M., THE OVAL OFFICE” — a call for viewers to tune in. We should note that the “news conference” was only open to the 21 reporters and photographers in the in-town press pool — down to 20, after the White House again barred the Associated Press’ reporter because the outlet refuses to use the term “Gulf of America.” The AP’s photographer — whose images go out to thousands of news organizations worldwide, including POLITICO — was not barred. The whirlwind has been nonstop since Trump took office. On Inauguration Day, the new president took questions from the pool for about 45 minutes in the Oval Office. This week has been particularly busy:
- Monday, Trump spoke in the Oval for 37 minutes.
- Tuesday, the president took questions from reporters four times. Two of those were originally closed press, and they included remarks from King ABDULLAH II of Jordan, ELON MUSK (and his toddler son X Æ A-XII) and MARC FOGEL, the American prisoner freed from Russia. The pool remained at the White House until after 10 p.m.
- Wednesday, Trump spoke for 37 minutes while swearing in Director of National Intelligence TULSI GABBARD.
Former President JOE BIDEN, by contrast, would routinely go full days without a single press encounter. Trump is talking so much, in fact, that even the White House stenographers are struggling to keep up, the AP reported last month. And the White House sees it as a point of pride. “President Trump has unlimited energy and work ethic,” communications director STEPHEN CHEUNG said last week on X, responding to a post about Trump’s tornado of a schedule. “I hope the press is ready to work their asses off after their four-year vacation covering the previous administration,” White House press secretary KAROLINE LEAVITT told our ELI STOKOLS and DASHA BURNS last month. We are. RED, WHITE AND POWER BLUE: Trump has beef with Boeing. “Boeing, we’re not happy with the service we’re getting in terms of those planes,” he told reporters Wednesday in the Oval Office. Trump has been pushing for a new presidential jet since his first term, when in 2018 he got personally involved in contract negotiations with Boeing and landed a $3.9 billion deal for two 747-8s that will fly faster, farther and cleaner than the current fleet of Air Force One planes. The aerospace firm is now trying to wiggle out of it, Trump argued. “They’re saying they’re getting hurt by it,” Trump said. “They have to produce the product. They agreed to build planes at a certain price.” A Boeing spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment. Trump is undoubtedly a plane guy: He owns a personal Boeing 757, started a failed airline in the 1980s and briefly considered installing his private pilot as head of the Federal Aviation Administration. He also advocated for scrapping the presidential jets’ classic baby blue color scheme — developed by former first lady JACQUELINE KENNEDY for former President JOHN F. KENNEDY’s plane, delivered in 1962 — in favor of red, white and dark blue that would resemble his personal jet, Trump Force One. Biden scrapped the paint change in 2022 over concerns that the darker blue could make the planes too hot, which would require other modifications that Boeing would have to make without reimbursement. The program is already more than $2 billion over budget for the embattled aerospace firm, which has endured major losses and intense scrutiny over safety concerns in the past few years. It’s also delayed — potentially by so long that the planes could be delivered after Trump concludes his second term, Breaking Defense reported. Enter Musk. The billionaire DOGE chief — who owns SpaceX, a Boeing rival — is working with the firm to speed up delivery, Boeing CEO KELLY ORTBERG told CNBC last month. “The president wants the airplanes sooner, so we’re working with Elon and with the team to figure out what can we do to pull up the schedule of that aircraft,” Ortberg said. He added that those conversations have been “absolutely” constructive as Boeing engages with DOGE to “find the right mix of requirements that need to come out and get out of our way so we can be more efficient and deliver a better product.” It wasn’t immediately clear if those talks will re-open the color scheme discussion. Neither a Pentagon nor DOGE spokesperson responded to a request for comment. But Trump, for one, has been black and white on the color question. “We’ll be changing the colors,” the president told reporters aboard Air Force One last month. “We want power blue, not baby blue.” MESSAGE US — Are you Airbus CEO GUILLAUME FAURY? We want to hear from you. And we’ll keep you anonymous! Email us at westwingtips@politico.com. Did someone forward this email to you? Subscribe here!
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