Inside Trump’s hectic day-to-day schedule as prez begins to transform federal government
In the renewed vigor of the Oval Office, President Trump doesn’t take meetings in the traditional sense, where one guest leaves before another departs.
Instead, in gregarious fashion, the president rolls one meeting into another and introduces the principals to each other, creating a burst of high-energy chemistry and humor that has transformed the White House from a mausoleum into a symphony of personal interaction.
He has shaken so many hands that the back of his right hand is almost permanently adorned with a large skin-colored Band-Aid to cover bruises and scratches from enthusiastic well-wishers.
His days start at 6 a,m, and often end close to midnight over small convivial dinners in the White House with assorted dignitaries.
He is more lively at 78 than most people 40 years younger.
When he wakes up, the first thing that goes through his mind, he says, is “business. Everything’s business.
Now, it’s political business.
“There’s no thoughts of leisure, no going to the beach like Sleepy Joe Biden did and falling asleep in front of the press. How do you fall asleep in front of the press?”
On Friday, he flew home to spend a couple of nights in balmy Palm Beach, where the elegantly-attired members of the private club he owns, Mar a Lago, stand to applaud him whenever he enters the golden terrace for dinner.
The eclectic menu includes homey offerings like “Mary Trump’s meatloaf.”
In less than three weeks, he has shaken up America and the world with nonstop activity.
He’s signed 500 executive actions, held meetings at the White House with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Japanese Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, and has spoken to dozens of world leaders and US politicians.
“We have a country to save,” his chief of staff Susie Wiles tells supporters when explaining the breakneck pace.
In a far cry from his predecessor’s spartan and highly-controlled encounters with the Fourth Estate, Trump holds packed press conferences and takes questions from all comers.
He expresses great pride in Karoline Leavitt who, at 27, is the youngest White House press secretary in history.
She has earned plaudits from the press gallery and the public for her feisty displays at the podium.
She was given a standing ovation when she walked onto the Mar a Lago terrace Friday night.
Trump ruefully joked with her that, like him, it wasn’t a high bar to do better than their predecessors.
Trump also is proud of Elon Musk, the billionaire wunderkind who is rooting out waste and corruption to the tune of over $1 trillion a year in savings for the American taxpayer.
Musk is leading a team of young high-IQ whiz kids at the new Department of Government Efficiency, DOGE.
After cutting a swath through USAID — “I think we should close it down and let it be run by the State Department,” Trump said — the president gave Musk permission Friday to add an extra 45 staff to his team, recruited from his various tech businesses.
Next they will tackle the Pentagon, and other agencies, including potentially the FBI and CIA.
“It’s the greatest thing that’s happened to this country in many years,” Trump told the Post.
“They’re finding all the waste and fraud and corruption that nobody thought anybody would ever look for.”
Of federal spending, he said, “I thought it was corrupt. I have a feel for that stuff. My nose told me it was corrupt. Nobody else had any idea it was that corrupt. Think about it. Out of 100 items that we looked at, 98 were bad. Normally it’s the other way: 98 are good and you find two bad. They’re all bad. Horrible.”
Trump has developed a paternal affection for Musk and agrees that the richest man in the world “possibly” sees him as a father figure.
“He’s a different guy. A very good guy. For one thing he’s very intelligent. He’s sort of … child-like … He’s a very good guy. Very smart guy. I always thought of him as a loner, a recluse [but] he’s becoming very unreclusive. It’s amazing. He feels this is one of the most important things you can do.”
Trump was amused Thursday night in the Oval Office when an ebullient Musk and journalist Tucker Carlson turned up for a chat, both wearing ridiculously over-sized red MAGA hats.
Trump has turned a small space off the Oval Office, one that he used to call “The Monica Room,” into a merch display with every variation of MAGA hat arrayed on shelves, including Musk’s favorite black on black, as well as golden shoes, water bottles and copies of his coffee-table books.
After their chat, Musk posted on his X platform.
“I love Donald Trump as much as a straight man can love another man.”
