Inside One Of Trump's Marathon Cabinet Meetings
Don’t fall for what the legacy media is trying to feed you!
Happy Friday!
It was a busy week. Our sister organization, the Daily Caller News Foundation, held its annual gala which featured cabinet secretaries + members of Congress.
Before that gala, I was in the president’s marathon cabinet meeting with some of those same secretaries now dressed to the nines in a Washington, D.C., ballroom.
If you are at all plugged into the news, you’ve probably seen a clip of the president calling Rep. Ilhan Omar garbage and adding that Somalis should leave the country. I was the reporter that asked the question prompting that response from Trump. It was one of the crazier moments I’ve had covering the White House.
So allow me to take you behind the scenes at that moment.
Tuesday was the second cabinet meeting I have had the honor of attending and covering during the Trump administration. The first made history. At 3 hours and 17 minutes, it was the longest ever cabinet meeting.
This month’s cabinet meeting was the last one of the year and went about two and a half hours. They all run the same way. The president gives an opening monologue and then his cabinet secretaries go around the room sharing updates from their departments. Then, the president takes questions.
We reporters stand just inches from the cabinet secretaries as they huddle around the table. Some drink tea and coffee and look rather relaxed as they wait for their turn to speak. Others take notes and review the talking points printed on their department notecards.
On Tuesday, I stood directly behind Housing and Urban Development Sec. Scott Turner and right next to Chief of Staff Susie Wiles. I saw Veterans Affairs Sec. Doug Collins pass a note from the other side of the table over to Wiles.
Wiles occasionally jotted down notes in her notepad. Next to Wiles, Office of Management and Budget Director Russ Vought doodled on a notepad.
I also got a good look at the cabinet room while things transpire. On the biggest wall in the room hangs the 1868 painting titled “The Peacemakers,” which depicts Lincoln and some staff strategizing about the Civil War. There was a painting of George Washington behind where I stood, another portrait of Lincoln and a large photo of Calvin Coolidge. The room has three chandeliers and there is gold everywhere. The door handles to the room are engraved with the presidential seal.
During the meeting I watched Trump closely. At one point I caught his attention and smiled. He smiled back and winked. This is often how I know the president will come to me for a question.
And sure enough he did.