WASHINGTON — The military leaders who came to the Oval Office to discuss the new F-47 stealth fighter jet had a few surprises in store.
At one point in their sit-down with President Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive, walked in unexpectedly. Worried that he didn’t have security clearance, officials asked the social media magnate to wait outside, two people familiar with the meeting said.
A young aide also came in during the meeting, showed the president something on her laptop computer and left. Trump’s cellphone rang a couple of times.
Expecting more privacy in the meeting with the commander in chief, some of the officials came away mystified and a bit unnerved. They quietly discussed among themselves whether the visitors and calls might have compromised sensitive information, with one asking whether they should be concerned about “spillage.”
Trump affectionately refers to the Oval Office as “Grand Central Terminal” because of all the comings and goings, a senior White House official said. One of the people familiar with the winter meeting about the plane used another term: “bizarro world.”
Various aides have tried over the years to impose a certain discipline in the Trump White House, with limited results. Trump likes to see whom he wants and call whom he chooses, and in the new term, he presides over a freewheeling West Wing that mirrors the man, current and former aides say.
Trump will interrupt an Oval Office meeting and spontaneously pick up the phone and call a friend or confidant, a senior administration official said.
cscareerkweshuns on
Surely they’re watching Fox polls about how their own base hates the obbb
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3/?
Now, Cabinet members are a routine presence in the West Wing. Trump likes it that way, the senior White House official said. Trump is the ultimate decision-maker, and that’s why they come, the person said, adding, “He wants them here, too.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has an office in the West Wing now that Trump has given him the dual role of national security adviser — the first person to simultaneously hold both jobs since Henry Kissinger did so in the Nixon administration.
Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, works out of the building next door and, with a broad portfolio that encompasses the economy and tariffs, is a regular visitor. So is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key player in Trump’s tariff negotiations with other countries.
Indeed, some aides past and present describe Lutnick as a perennial guest: quick to arrive, not as quick to leave. Lutnick’s headquarters is less than a mile from the White House, but he “could be stationed in Maryland, and he would still be at the White House,” a second senior White House official said, who added that Lutnick spends his time there going in and out of meetings with Trump. The official said that was due in part to Lutnick’s oversight of trade and tariff issues at the center of the president’s agenda.
The Commerce Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment.
Face time with the president can be a way for Cabinet members to retain influence, something that may not be lost on the people who serve at Trump’s pleasure. Turnover in Trump’s first term was high; this time, his Cabinet has stayed largely intact.
“If you’re a Cabinet member, there’s a fine line between too much time and not enough time” in Trump’s company, the senior administration official said. “Sometimes in Trump world, scarcity is a good thing. But too much scarcity and you get forgotten.”
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WASHINGTON — The military leaders who came to the Oval Office to discuss the new F-47 stealth fighter jet had a few surprises in store.
At one point in their sit-down with President Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, the Meta chief executive, walked in unexpectedly. Worried that he didn’t have security clearance, officials asked the social media magnate to wait outside, two people familiar with the meeting said.
A young aide also came in during the meeting, showed the president something on her laptop computer and left. Trump’s cellphone rang a couple of times.
Expecting more privacy in the meeting with the commander in chief, some of the officials came away mystified and a bit unnerved. They quietly discussed among themselves whether the visitors and calls might have compromised sensitive information, with one asking whether they should be concerned about “spillage.”
Trump affectionately refers to the Oval Office as “Grand Central Terminal” because of all the comings and goings, a senior White House official said. One of the people familiar with the winter meeting about the plane used another term: “bizarro world.”
Various aides have tried over the years to impose a certain discipline in the Trump White House, with limited results. Trump likes to see whom he wants and call whom he chooses, and in the new term, he presides over a freewheeling West Wing that mirrors the man, current and former aides say.
Trump will interrupt an Oval Office meeting and spontaneously pick up the phone and call a friend or confidant, a senior administration official said.
Surely they’re watching Fox polls about how their own base hates the obbb
3/?
Now, Cabinet members are a routine presence in the West Wing. Trump likes it that way, the senior White House official said. Trump is the ultimate decision-maker, and that’s why they come, the person said, adding, “He wants them here, too.”
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has an office in the West Wing now that Trump has given him the dual role of national security adviser — the first person to simultaneously hold both jobs since Henry Kissinger did so in the Nixon administration.
Scott Bessent, the treasury secretary, works out of the building next door and, with a broad portfolio that encompasses the economy and tariffs, is a regular visitor. So is Commerce Secretary Howard Lutnick, a key player in Trump’s tariff negotiations with other countries.
Indeed, some aides past and present describe Lutnick as a perennial guest: quick to arrive, not as quick to leave. Lutnick’s headquarters is less than a mile from the White House, but he “could be stationed in Maryland, and he would still be at the White House,” a second senior White House official said, who added that Lutnick spends his time there going in and out of meetings with Trump. The official said that was due in part to Lutnick’s oversight of trade and tariff issues at the center of the president’s agenda.
The Commerce Department didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Meta declined to comment.
Face time with the president can be a way for Cabinet members to retain influence, something that may not be lost on the people who serve at Trump’s pleasure. Turnover in Trump’s first term was high; this time, his Cabinet has stayed largely intact.
“If you’re a Cabinet member, there’s a fine line between too much time and not enough time” in Trump’s company, the senior administration official said. “Sometimes in Trump world, scarcity is a good thing. But too much scarcity and you get forgotten.”