Washington-The military leaders who came to the Oval Office to discuss the new Sixth F-47 combat plane had some surprises in the store.
At one point in his seated with President Donald Trump, Mark Zuckerberg, the executive director of Meta, entered unexpectedly. Concerned not to have security authorization, the authorities asked the magnate of the social networks to wait outside, two people familiar with the meeting said.
A young assistant also arrived during the meeting, showed the president something on his laptop and left. Trump’s cell phone rang a couple of times.
Waiting for more privacy at the meeting with the commander in chief, some of the officials were bewildered and a little nervous. They argued in silence among them if visitors and calls could have compromised confidential information, and wonders if they should worry about the “spill.”
Trump affectionately refers to the oval office as “great central terminal” due to all the comings and goings, said a senior White House official. One of the people familiar with the winter meeting on the plane used another term: “Bizarro World”.
Several assistants have tried over the years to impose a certain discipline in Trump’s White House, with limited results. Trump likes to see who he wants and call who chooses, and in the new term, presides over a western wing of the free wheel that reflects the man, the current and previous assistants say.
Trump will interrupt a meeting of the Oval office and spontaneously lift the phone and call a friend or confidant, said a senior administration official.
The cabinet secretaries are often around the building, entering and leaving the offices with powerful advisors, including the head of personnel, Susie Wiles and the deputy director Stephen Miller.
“Nobody wants to lose the decision,” said a person who has been at the White House for meetings.
One meeting comes to another. Cabinet members who had planned 30 -minute visits to the White House can end up staying for hours at the invitation of the president.
“If you are in a meeting about [disaster] The preparation and the next meeting is on anything, he will say, ‘stay, ”said the senior administration official.
If Trump’s methods are not orthodox, they say their supporters, it is delivering results. It is on the cusp of approving a bill that would achieve many of its national objectives: reduce taxes and reduction of illegal immigration. And he orchestrated a high fire between Iran and Israel who is holding for now, avoiding a greater escalation.
However, Trump’s management style also raises risks, current and previous officials say. Cabinet secretaries direct complex agencies that need attention and leadership. Discovering the West wing can deprive the Federal Force of both. The careful effort of a staff to provide balanced views before the president establishes the policy can explode if he also listens to friends and associates who share non -vettid information. And, unlike Grand Central Station, the White House is an area where secrets must protect themselves.
NBC News spoke with more than a dozen officials of the past and current administration, legis and allies of Trump about the west wing rhythms. What is remarkable is informality, they said.
A former national security official said they were surprised with the frequency with which they would meet vice president JD Vance stopped outside the Oval office, near the Keurig coffee maker, drinking a cup or eating one of the cookies offered. Vance’s office declined to comment.
A Republican senator invited a signing of a bill said that Trump took him and others to see what the president called “Monica Lewinsky’s room”, the quotes scene between Bill Clinton and a certain White House intern. There, in space near the Oval office, Trump keeps a supply of hats and magician shirts to give visitors. The High White House official described the room as a kind of “beautifully organized” gift shop.
“He does what he wants, and they [Trump aides] Let him do it, ”said the senator, speaking under condition of anonymity.
Some White House visitors say they have been beaten by the ubiquity of Trump’s cabinet secretaries.
At least in the early phase of the last period of Trump, the members of the Cabinet tended to keep their native agencies, said a former White House official.
“They should be executing their bureaucracies. They should not be hanging around the White House,” said the person, speaking in condition of anonymity.
Now, cabinet members are a presence of routine in the west wing. Trump likes that way, said the senior White House official. Trump is the best decision maker, and that is why they come, said the person, adding: “He also wants them here.”
The Secretary of State, Marco Rubio, has an office in the west wing now that Trump has given him the double role of the national security advisor, the first person to simultaneously maintain both works since Henry Kissinger did so in the Nixon administration.
Scott Besent, the Treasury Secretary, works outside the building next door and, with a wide portfolio that covers the economy and tariffs, is a usual visitor. So is the Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick, a key player in Trump’s tariff negotiations with other countries.
In fact, some past and present assistants describe Lutnick as a perennial guest: quickly arrive, not so fast to leave. Lutnick’s headquarters is less than one mile from the White House, but “it could be parked in Maryland, and would still be in the White House,” said a second senior White House official, who added that Lutnick spends his time there entering and leaving the meetings with Trump. The official said that it was partly due to the supervision of Lutnick’s commercial and rates problems in the center of the president’s agenda.
The Commerce Department did not immediately respond to requests for comments. Goal declined to comment.
The face time with the president can be a way for cabinet members to retain influence, something that may not be lost in the people who serve with Trump’s pleasure. The rotation in Trump’s first mandate was high; This time, its cabinet has remained largely intact.
“If you are a member of the cabinet, there is a very fine line between too much time and not enough time” in the Trump company, said the senior administration official. “Sometimes in Trump’s world, scarcity is a good thing. But too much shortage and forget you.”
In a prepared statement, the deputy director of Communications Personnel of the White House, Taylor Budowich, said: “President Trump has gathered the best cabinet in US history, a group of talented people who embody the diverse coalition that delivered his historical victory of elections. [Wiles] He has played an integral role in the operation of his agenda through his administration and has assured that all are empowered with the tools to comply with the president’s mandate. “
A habit that is transferred from the first term of Trump is his love for the cell phone.
Trump will stop a meeting to call old friends like Dana White, Executive Director of Ultimate Fighting Championship, or Rupert Murdoch, President Emeritus of Fox, said the senior administration official.
“He will say: ‘Let’s call Rupert. Fox is killing me today,'” said the official, speaking under anonymity to speak freely.
Lately, Trump has called Murdoch for his views about the conflict between Israel and Iran and, in particular, the participation of Washington, according to two people with knowledge of the calls.
Supervising the operation of the West Wing is Wiles, the fifth chief of cabinet that Trump has had in his 4½ years in office. Trump affectionately calls her the “ice maiden.” Few of the bosses have managed to control Trump access or monitor their calls to external friends and advisors who want to influence their thinking about a problem. But Wiles are attributed at least to balance Trump’s improvisation instincts with an order appearance.
“She is in virtually all the meetings that matter,” said the former president of the House of Representatives, Newt Giningrich, a Trump ally, who describes her as the best chief of staff that Trump has had. “She sits there, takes notes and knows what the president wants to achieve and does.”
A White House official said that Wiles, a former lobbyist, maintains the opinion that, although he does not know the answers, he will take care that Trump listens to all sides of a problem before making a decision.
The chief of Cabinet with more years of service of Trump, John Kelly, tried something similar in the first mandate. Kelly’s practice was to consider that if someone entered the Oval office to present an idea to Trump, a person who represents an opposite vision would also be available for the president to listen to both points of view.
Kelly left after approximately a year and a half, his effort to bring more structure to the west wing to fail.
“I don’t think the president’s habits have changed a lot,” said the Republican senator. “He looks a lot of television and lives on the phone. He likes them to call him. In fact, the last time I was with him, he said: ‘Why don’t you call me?’ And I am thinking, “because I have nothing to say and, No. 2, because you are the president and you are busy.”
