There is not exactly a formal process in place if you want to secure a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump. All it might take, in fact, is knowing the right people. Namely, Trump's security guard, Keith Schiller.
Carl Paladino, the upstate New York developer and local political gadfly, was interested in catching up with Donald Trump in early December, so he rang up the president-elect's private security guard. The next day, on Dec. 5, Paladino found himself high in Trump Tower, recounting favorite moments from the campaign and gossiping about local politics with the president-elect for 45 minutes. [Politico]
Since winning the presidency, Trump has met with everyone from potential political appointees to celebrities. Sometimes the meetings are unexpected: New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio was recently summoned to Trump Tower for a 62-minute conversation. "No one knew why the meeting went that long," a person close to de Blasio told Politico. In another case, Rev. Al Sharpton hung up the phone on Trump's secretary when he received a call asking him to visit the Tower because he didn't think it was real.
"It's going to be more challenging if that's brought to the White House," said Craig Fuller, who served as former President George H.W. Bush's chief of staff. "There is a high demand of issues to bring to the White House. You can't just shoot from the hip, shall we say."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Political cartoons for December 13Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include saving healthcare, the affordability crisis, and more
-
Farage’s £9m windfall: will it smooth his path to power?In Depth The record donation has come amidst rumours of collaboration with the Conservatives and allegations of racism in Farage's school days
-
The issue dividing Israel: ultra-Orthodox draft dodgersIn the Spotlight A new bill has solidified the community’s ‘draft evasion’ stance, with this issue becoming the country’s ‘greatest internal security threat’
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
-
Miami elects first Democratic mayor in 28 yearsSpeed Read Eileen Higgins, Miami’s first woman mayor, focused on affordability and Trump’s immigration crackdown in her campaign
