White House contenders dish on Trump's interview style: 'If you filibuster, he'll cut you off'

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published 7 December 2016

President-elect Donald Trump doesn't seem to have switched up his interviewing style from his days as a ruthless businessman on reality TV show The Apprentice. In a wide-ranging reveal published in The New York Times on Wednesday, candidates who have either interviewed for positions in Trump's White House or simply sat down for a chat with the president-elect dished on their experiences being interrogated by America's next commander-in-chief. The overwhelming takeaway: Once a businessman, always a businessman.

Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said Trump is all about wanting to know "what you can do for him." "If you filibuster, he'll cut you off," Gingrich said. Former Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, a contender for the next secretary of agriculture, said Trump clearly approached their sit-down "from a deal standpoint." "He believes that we in the United States have been sort of patsies over the years in the way we've dealt with our foreign competitors and international trade — and I agree with him — and he wanted to know what I would do about it," Perdue told The New York Times. Former Massachusetts Sen. Scott Brown noted a similar takeaway, saying Trump "made it clear that he's a businessman and he's going to delegate to people."

Others couldn't help but notice the atmosphere at Trump Tower was reminiscent of the entertainment world. Pennsylvania Rep. Lou Barletta compared approaching Trump Tower to "walking the red carpet in Hollywood." "It was like a green room," said BET founder Robert L. Johnson, "a waiting room of people you know or you know of, all waiting their turn."