[It was as if he’d never left. The Oval Office that President Donald Trump begrudgingly departed four years ago was reassembled in almost identical fashion over the course of a few hours Monday, right down to the cream wool rug with the olive branch border, designed by Nancy Reagan for her husband. The wooden box with a red button, used to summon a valet for a Diet Coke, was back on the desk. A portrait of President Andrew Jackson – albeit a different painting – was back on the wall. The sole reminder of the man who beat him four years ago was a letter in his top drawer, which Trump seemed to forget about until he was reminded to look by a reporter.
A deep familiarity with the trappings of the West Wing and the Executive Residence helped keep the president in a good mood all week, several people who spoke with him said, a sentiment that came alive in one appearance after another.
“Oh, what a great feeling,” Trump said of his return to the Oval Office, basking in the grandeur of one of the world’s most powerful rooms. “One of the better feelings I’ve ever had.”
A familiarity with the gears of government also helped Trump’s team move with much more speed and sweep in their first week than they did eight years ago, issuing a blizzard of executive actions and reaching down into agencies across Washington to put his agenda and personnel plans in place.
It’s far too early, of course, to know whether the perpetual sense of chaos that hung over the West Wing during the first four years will ultimately return during Trump’s second term. Some Trump allies remain skeptical the president will be able to avoid it, given his own appetite for pitting advisers against each other. In some ways, the chaos is now just part of the program as Trump tests the bounds of his presidential authority, inviting legal challenges and backlash even from Republicans.
But if the opening days signaled fewer attempts to control Trump, a concerted effort to instill discipline among staff was palpable. That task rests with Susie Wiles, the new White House chief of staff, who ran Trump’s campaign with a discipline that’s mostly been lacking in Trumpworld and developed a loyal following along the way. She arrived inside the building well ahead of Trump on Monday to begin the job in earnest, settling into her corner office with a fireplace and back patio. She has spent considerable time in the Oval Office this week, watching a few steps away from the Resolute Desk during executive order signings, meetings with Congressional leaders and Cabinet nominees.
For every new executive action on immigration or federal workplace policy, there were parallel attempts at settling scores or exacting revenge – including stripping former officials under threat from Iran of their security details or issuing a blanket pardon for January 6 rioters. Even at a speech Saturday in Las Vegas ostensibly meant to discuss his proposal to eliminate taxes on tips, Trump took 25 minutes to arrive at the issue at hand. It was only after he spent time lambasting his predecessor, whom he accused of being a “lunatic” and sleeping through telephone calls from foreign leaders, that he mentioned the tax plan.
This balance between looking forward and back will play an outsized role in the trajectory of Trump’s second term and the degree to which he is able to capitalize on a full – but narrow – Republican Congressional majority in accomplishing his legislative agenda.
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