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Just dropped · Trial Balloon · Ep. 193

The Magnificent Seven

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Trial Balloon · Ep. 193: The Magnificent Seven

Life In the Trump White House

May 11, 2017 · 8:16 am ET · Leave a Comment

Time: “The waiters know well Trump’s personal preferences. As he settles down, they bring him a Diet Coke … With the salad course, Trump is served what appears to be Thousand Island dressing instead of the creamy vinaigrette for his guests. When the chicken arrives, he is the only one given an extra dish of sauce. At the dessert course, he gets two scoops of vanilla ice cream with his chocolate cream pie, instead of the single scoop for everyone else.”

“Few rooms have changed so much so fast as his dining room, where he often eats his lunch amid stacks of newspapers and briefing sheets. A few weeks back, the President ordered a gutting of the room… He watches the TV screen like a coach going over game tape, studying the opposition, plotting next week’s plays. “This is one of the great inventions of all time— TiVo,” he says as he fast-forwards.”

“But the thing he wants to show is on the opposite wall, above the replace, a new 60-plus-inch at-screen television that he has cued up with clips from the day’s Senate hearing on Russia. Since at least as far back as Richard Nixon, Presidents have kept televisions in this room, usually small ones, no larger than a bread box, tucked away on a sideboard shelf. That’s not the Trump way.”

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Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire -- which for more than two decades has been one of the nation's most influential political news sites.

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