Inside Trump’s Daily Life

US President Donald Trump. Doug Mills/The New York Times
US President Donald Trump. Doug Mills/The New York Times
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Inside Trump’s Daily Life

US President Donald Trump. Doug Mills/The New York Times
US President Donald Trump. Doug Mills/The New York Times

Around 5:30 each morning, President Trump wakes and tunes into the television in the White House’s master bedroom. He flips to CNN for news, moves to “Fox & Friends” for comfort and messaging ideas, and sometimes watches MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” because, friends suspect, it fires him up for the day.

Trump grabs his iPhone. Sometimes he tweets while propped on his pillow, according to aides. Other times he tweets from the den next door, watching another television. Less frequently, he makes his way up the hall to the ornate Treaty Room, sometimes dressed for the day, sometimes still in night clothes, where he begins his official and unofficial calls.

As he ends his first year in office, Mr. Trump is redefining what it means to be president. He sees the highest office in the land much as he did the night of his stunning victory over Hillary Clinton — as a prize he must fight to protect every waking moment, and Twitter is his Excalibur. Despite all his bluster, he views himself less as a titan dominating the world stage than a maligned outsider engaged in a struggle to be taken seriously, according to interviews with 60 advisers, associates, friends and members of Congress.

For other presidents, every day is a test of how to lead a country, not just a faction, balancing competing interests. For Mr. Trump, every day is an hour-by-hour battle for self-preservation. He still relitigates last year’s election, convinced that the investigation by Robert S. Mueller III, the special counsel, into Russia’s interference is a plot to delegitimize him. Color-coded maps highlighting the counties he won were hung on the White House walls.

Before taking office, Mr. Trump told top aides to think of each presidential day as an episode in a television show in which he vanquishes rivals. People close to him estimate that Mr. Trump spends at least four hours a day, and sometimes as much as twice that, in front of a television, sometimes with the volume muted.

“He feels like there’s an effort to undermine his election and that collusion allegations are unfounded,” said Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina who has spent more time with the president than most lawmakers. “He believes passionately that the liberal left and the media are out to destroy him. The way he got here is fighting back and counterpunching.

“The problem he’s going to face,” Mr. Graham added, “is there’s a difference between running for the office and being president. You’ve got to find that sweet spot between being a fighter and being president.”

Mr. Trump is more unpopular than any of his modern predecessors at this point in his tenure — just 32 percent approved of his performance in the latest Pew Research Center poll — yet he dominates the landscape like no other.

After months of legislative failures, Mr. Trump is on the verge of finally prevailing in his efforts to cut taxes and reverse part of his predecessor’s health care program. While much of what he has promised remains undone, he has made significant progress in his goal of rolling back business and environmental regulations. The growing economy he inherited continues to improve, and stock markets have soared to record heights. His partial travel ban on mainly Muslim countries has finally taken effect after multiple court fights.

Jared Kushner, his son-in-law and senior adviser, has told associates that Mr. Trump, deeply set in his ways at age 71, will never change. Rather, he predicted, Mr. Trump would bend, and possibly break, the office to his will.

John F. Kelly, a retired four-star general, served as a “wagon boss” for Marines crashing into Iraq in 2003, keeping his column moving forward despite incoming fire. As White House chief of staff, Mr. Kelly has adopted much the same approach, laboring 14-hour days to impose discipline on a chaotic operation — with mixed success.

In the months before Mr. Kelly took over last summer from his embattled predecessor, Reince Priebus, the Oval Office had a rush-hour feel, with a constant stream of aides and visitors stopping by to offer advice. During one April meeting with New York Times reporters, no fewer than 20 people wandered in and out. The door to the Oval Office is now mostly closed.

Mr. Kelly is trying, quietly and respectfully, to reduce the amount of free time the president has for fiery tweets by accelerating the start of his workday. Mr. Priebus also tried, with only modest success, to encourage Mr. Trump to arrive by 9 or 9:30 a.m.

Mr. Trump, who enjoyed complete control over his business empire, has made significant concessions after trying to micromanage his first months in office. Despite chafing at the limits, the president actually craves the approval of Mr. Kelly, whom he sees as a peer, people close to Mr. Trump said.

He calls Mr. Kelly up to a dozen times a day, even four or five times during dinner or a golf outing, to ask about his schedule or seek policy advice, according to people who have spoken with the president. 
Mr. Kelly has also adopted some of Mr. Trump’s favorite grievances, telling the president recently that he agrees that some reporters are interested only in taking down the administration.

The ammunition for his Twitter war is television. No one touches the remote control except Mr. Trump and the technical support staff — at least that’s the rule. During meetings, the 60-inch screen mounted in the dining room may be muted, but Mr. Trump keeps an eye on scrolling headlines. What he misses he checks out later on what he calls his “Super TiVo,” a state-of-the-art system that records cable news.

Watching cable, he shares thoughts with anyone in the room, even the household staff he summons via a button for lunch or for one of the dozen Diet Cokes he consumes each day.

The New York Times



Kamala or Harris? How to Thread the Needle on Politics, Gender and Race

Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Alliant Energy Center on October 30, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. Harris and her opponent, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, are currently in a dead heat in the swing state.   Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Alliant Energy Center on October 30, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. Harris and her opponent, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, are currently in a dead heat in the swing state. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
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Kamala or Harris? How to Thread the Needle on Politics, Gender and Race

Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Alliant Energy Center on October 30, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. Harris and her opponent, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, are currently in a dead heat in the swing state.   Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)
Democratic presidential nominee, US Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally at the Alliant Energy Center on October 30, 2024 in Madison, Wisconsin. Harris and her opponent, Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump, are currently in a dead heat in the swing state. Scott Olson/Getty Images/AFP (Photo by SCOTT OLSON / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / Getty Images via AFP)

What's in a name? For Kamala Harris, it's a way to assert her own authority, implicitly celebrate her identity -- and blunt attacks by her White House rival, Donald Trump.
The former Republican president persists in calling Harris by her first name at his rallies -- a contrast to how he referred to the former Democratic presidential candidate, Joe Biden, either as "Biden" or sometimes "Sleepy Joe."
The 78-year-old billionaire also makes a point of mispronouncing "Kamala," telling a rally at the end of July that there were "numerous ways of saying her name."
"I said, don't worry about it. It doesn't matter what I say. I couldn't care less if I mispronounce it," he continued.
On the surface, it's just another attack by a politician famous for his belittling nicknames.
But when it comes to a woman and a person of color, Trump's insistence on referring to Harris by her first name -- and mangling it -- takes on a more insidious tone.
"Calling women leaders by their first name is often done to undercut their authority," explains Karrin Vasby Anderson, a professor of communications at Colorado State University.
As for the pronunciation, some believe Trump is attempting to "other" Harris -- and remind his supporters that her father was from Jamaica and her mother emigrated from India.
That impression becomes more pointed when created by a presidential candidate who often deploys racist and violent rhetoric against migrants, especially during an election with a growing gender divide, said AFP.
"It's noteworthy that Trump often mispronounces her name for humorous effect, tacitly implying that the notion of a Black woman with South Asian heritage running for president is worthy of ridicule," Anderson says.
"But it's also interesting that he not only mispronounces it, but he makes the claim that she doesn't know how to pronounce her own name. It's the ultimate mansplain."
'La-la-la-la-la'
Harris has turned Trump's attacks around, however -- making a point of both celebrating her first name and emphasizing how to pronounce it.
When Biden withdrew from the race in July, endorsing Harris, the campaign team's account on X swiftly changed from "Biden HQ" to "Kamala HQ."
At rallies, "Kamala" signs are waved side by side with "Harris Walz" posters, referring to her running mate Tim Walz.
In Washington on Tuesday evening, tens of thousands of people chanted the name as Harris delivered a major address with the White House lit up in the background -- creating a contrast between the solemnity of the moment and an almost affectionate note.
As for the pronunciation, the 60-year-old vice president's two great-nieces took to the stage at the Democratic National Convention in August to explain how it's done with the help of Emmy-winning actress Kerry Washington.
The trio divided the crowd up, with one side chanting "Kama" -- "like a comma in a sentence," and the other responding "la" -- "like la-la-la-la-la."
Some Harris campaign signs even read ",LA" -- a cheeky reference to the pronunciation.
Harris's first name has another version: "Momala" -- the nickname given to Harris by her stepchildren, Ella and Cole Emhoff.
'Madam President'
After Biden's dramatic decision to drop out of the race, Harris entered late and with a lack of notoriety. Making herself known by her first name is one strategy among others to bridge the gap.
It's a trick that has been used often by American politicians to create their public persona.
Progressive US Senator Bernie Sanders is often referred to by his first name, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is widely known as "Mayor Pete" in reference to his former title in South Bend, Indiana.
Going by Kamala also allows Harris to sow hints of her unusual background -- and the potentially historic nature of her presidency.
"She does not need to explicitly remind people that she's a woman or that she's a Black and South Asian woman," says Kelly Dittmar, professor of political science at Rutgers University.
"She represents a kind of approach to identity in political campaigning that ... just doesn't need to be explicit."
As for the mansplaining, Harris's husband Doug Emhoff, who hopes to become the first ever First Gentleman, had a pithy comeback.
"Mr. Trump, I know you have so much trouble pronouncing her name," Emhoff said during a campaign event in August.
"Here's the good news. After the election, you can just call her Madam President."