Welcome to POLITICO’s West Wing Playbook, your guide to the power dynamics, personnel decisions and policy deliberations of Donald Trump’s White House.
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 ORTBERGtold 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.”
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POTUS PUZZLER
Which president had a treadmill installed on Air Force One?
(Answer at bottom.)
The Oval
FIRST IN WEST WING PLAYBOOK: More than 200 former national security and foreign policy officials, including former national security advisers SUSAN RICE and ANTHONY LAKE, sent a letter to congressional leadership dated Wednesday, obtained by our DANIEL LIPPMAN and Ben, urging them to demand the Trump administration to reverse the executive orders and directives aimed at freezing U.S. foreign assistance and dismantling USAID.
The directives “inflict irreparable damage on hundreds of millions of people around the world, harm Americans by crippling our ability to protect U.S. citizens from disease and other harms, and invite China and other competitors to fill the gap we have created, thereby increasing their power and influence at our expense,” write the former officials, who served in both Republican and Democratic administrations dating back to the LYNDON B. JOHNSON administration.
MUSK HOLDS HIS OWN BILAT: Musk, the billionaire DOGE chief, had his own one-on-one with Modi ahead of the Indian prime minister’s meeting with Trump — which appeared quite similar to the type of bilateral that an elected official would have with a world leader.
“Had a very good meeting with @elonmusk in Washington DC,” Modi wrote on X, with accompanying pictures of the two men laughing. “We discussed various issues, including those he is passionate about such as space, mobility, technology and innovation. I talked about India’s efforts towards reform and furthering ‘Minimum Government, Maximum Governance.’”
Modi, on one side of the photo, is flanked by what looks to be seven advisers. On Musk’s side, three of his children look on as the world’s richest man meets with the key U.S. ally.
MORE LAYOFFS INCOMING: The Trump administration moved swiftly to lay off thousands of government employees in at least six agencies Thursday, initiating a new and more aggressive phase of its push to shrink the federal workforce, Sophia, Eli, JACK DETSCH and BRAKKTON BOOKERreport.
The Department of Energy plans to lay off most or all of its estimated 2,000 probationary employees Thursday. Over the past 48 hours, at least five other agencies — the Education Department, the Office of Personnel Management, Small Business Administration, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and the General Services Administration — initiated layoffs.
Also on Thursday, Musk and his DOGE team started to zero in on the Department of Housing and Urban Development, reviewing the agency’s budget and workforce structure for potential cuts.
TARIFFS ON TARIFFS: Trump signed a presidential memorandum on Thursday moving the U.S. a step further toward a “reciprocal” tariff system that could dramatically raise duties on imports from across the world, our DOUG PALMER and ARI HAWKINSreport. The memo lays out a process for Trump to impose reciprocal tariffs on trading partners, effectively raising tariffs on a country’s exports to the U.S. based on the level of tariff and non-tariff barriers that country imposes on U.S. goods.
“On Trade, I have decided, for purposes of Fairness, that I will charge a RECIPROCAL Tariff meaning, whatever Countries charge the United States of America, we will charge them - No more, no less!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
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THE BUREAUCRATS
RFK SQUEEZES THROUGH: As mentioned above, Kennedy was confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary this morning, and sworn in by Trump at the Oval Office this afternoon. And as our CHELSEA CIRRUZZO, DANIEL PAYNE and ADAM CANCRYNreport, his plans to upend the agency could make Musk’s efforts look modest in comparison.
Kennedy and his aides have spent the past several days drawing up a list of priority actions, though one person familiar with the discussions cautioned that his plans remained in flux just 24 hours out from his confirmation amid debate over how quickly he should move to put his stamp on the administration’s health agenda.
The Senate confirmed Kennedy in a 52-48 vote, with Sen. MITCH McCONNELL (R-Ky.) casting the sole Republican “no” vote.
ALSO AT THE HILL: BROOKE ROLLINS was confirmed as Agriculture secretary in a bipartisan vote of support, our GRACE YARROWreports. The Senate confirmed Rollins, who was domestic policy chief in Trump’s first term, in a 72-28 vote. Education secretary nominee LINDA McMAHON was grilled in front of the Senate HELP committee on Thursday for her potential boss’ plans to upend the agency she is being tasked to lead, our MACKENZIE WILKES and REBECCA CARBALLOreport. But she told the panel repeatedly that Trump does not want to defund the Education Department, despite past comments saying just that.
“It’s not the president’s goal to defund the programs, only to have it operate more efficiently,” McMahon added, in response to a question from Senate HELP Chair BILL CASSIDY (R-La.) about downsizing the agency. At a White House press conference last week, Trump told McMahon that he wanted the former WWE CEO “to put herself out of a job.”
UPON REFLECTION: After Trump took over the Kennedy Center on Wednesday, one entertainer said she’d seen enough. ISSA RAE, the multi-award winning actress and writer, cancelled her upcoming appearance at the performing arts center. “Unfortunately, due to what I believe to be an infringement on the values of an institution that has faithfully celebrated artists of all backgrounds through all mediums, I’ve decided to cancel my appearance at this venue,” Rae said in a post on her Instagram story.
She’s not the only big name stepping away in light of the Trump takeover. RENÉE FLEMING, the renowned soprano, said Wednesday that she would step down as an artistic adviser to the arts center. BEN FOLDS, who was an adviser to the National Symphony Orchestra overseen by the center, resigned from his post. And SHONDA RHIMES, the television producer and writer who created “Grey’s Anatomy,” “Scandal” and “How to Get Away With Murder,” also resigned as treasurer of the Kennedy Center’s board.
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Agenda Setting
HEGSETH BACKTRACKS: Defense Secretary PETE HEGSETH on Thursday pulled back some of the peace deal concessions he demanded of Ukraine a day earlier, including no NATO membership for the war-torn country or a return to its pre-war borders, our PAUL McLEARYreports. “Everything is on the table” when it comes to negotiations to end the war, Hegseth said in Brussels this morning.
He made no mention of any conditions, hours after Trump and Russian President VLADIMIR PUTIN spoke by phone about a potential peace deal. Hegseth said definitively on Wednesday that the U.S. would not accept NATO membership for Ukraine or provide peacekeeping troops.
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Former President GEORGE W. BUSH, an avid runner, had a treadmill installed on Air Force One during his presidency. In an interview with Runner’s World, Bush said on one trip to Europe, he ran for 90 minutes during the flight.
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 Kaitlyn Locke
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