Why is there an empty picture frame behind the Resolute Desk in Joe Biden’s Oval Office? David Friedman found out.
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Given Donald Trump‘s penchant for holding super-spreading events in the executive mansion, the White House will be thoroughly disinfected before the Biden administration enters it. Too bad exorcists are not on the GSA procurement schedule.
More:
“Biden will have White House disinfected after Trump leaves,” Joseph Guzman The Hill
“Biden to Have White House Disinfected After Trump Moves Out,” J. Clara Chan, The Wrap
“As Biden Gets Sworn In, White House Will Get Scrubbed Down,” Phil Galewitz, Kaiser Health News
Related:
“Misting the White House between administrations won’t kill Covid-19 — and it could be harmful, experts say,” Kate Sheridan, STAT
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While nearly 300,000 Americans lie dead from COVID-19, Melania Trump has completed a tennis pavilion at the White House, perhaps as a parting homage to Louis XIV. Maybe tennis will lure her husband back from his private golf course in Virginia during the waning days of his pestilential presidency.
Mrs. Trump dedicated her tennis pavilion yesterday, on Pearl Harbor Day, a date when Americans remember the 2,403 who died in that 1941 attack. About the same number of Americans are now dying each day from coronavirus, due to the Trump administration’s criminal failure of leadership.
Tennis, anyone? Better wear a mask.
More:
“First Lady Proudly Unveils White House Tennis Pavilion—as U.S. COVID Deaths Near 300K,” Arya Hodjat, Daily Beast
“Melania Trump faces backlash after revealing new White House tennis pavilion,” Kenya Evelyn, The Guardian
“Melania Trump’s Tennis Pavilion Announcement Brings Outrage: ‘How Many ICU Beds Will It Hold?'” Matthew Impelli, Newsweek
“‘Melania Antoinette’: First lady faces backlash after unveiling tennis pavilion at the White House,” The Telegraph via Yahoo News
Related:
“The number of COVID-19 deaths reported in the US nearly every day last week was higher than the death toll for the attack on Pearl Harbor,” Ryan Pickrell, Yahoo News
“The infamy of Japan’s attack at Pearl Harbor pales compared to what’s going on now.” Neil Steinberg, Chicago Sun Times
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Tuesday’s crowded White House election night watch party ended in uncertainty as the slow business of counting millions of mail-in ballots dragged on, but two predictable things happened:
White House guests including Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson MD, White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows, Trump Campaign official David Bossie, and campaign aide Nick Trainer are among those now testing positive.
Mr. Trump tasked Daivid Bossie with leading his legal challenge to the election results that make him a loser.
More:
“Was Donald Trump’s White House watch party a super-spreader event?” The Guardian
“Looks Like Trump May Have Held Another Superspreader Event,” Claire Lampen, The Cut
Updates:
“Two more people from Trump’s Election Night party at White House test positive for coronavirus,” Dan Mangan, CNBC
“White House political director tests positive for coronavirus, official says,” Kaitlan Collins and Maegan Vazquez, CNN
“Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski tests positive for coronavirus,” Oriana Gonzalez, Axios
“RNC Chief of Staff Richard Walters tests positive for COVID-19,” Xeni Jardin, BoingBoing
Related:
“Amid White House COVID-19 outbreak, Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner pulled their 3 kids from a DC Jewish school,” Ron Kampeas, Jewish Telegraphic Service
“Javanka Pulled Kids Out of D.C. School After Parents Complained: Report,” Tori B. Powell, Daily Beast
“Parents Say Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump Wouldn’t Adhere to Covid Protocols at Their Kids’ School—So the Family Left,” Daniella Byck, Washingtonian
“More than 130 Secret Service officers reportedly under coronavirus quarantine,” Ursula Perano, Axios
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The White House had a children’s Halloween party last weekend. That’s pretty frightening given the rate of COVID-19 infection at the White House. Thanks to Donald Trump’s ineptitude, the Executive Mansion is now haunted by the souls of 230,000 dead Americans. The Biden Transition Team better have a skilled exorcist on board.
More:
“Trumps celebrate Halloween at the White House,” Jean Lotus, UPI
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Coronavirus-infected Donald Trump has moved from the Presidential Suite of Walter Reed National Medical Center to another exclusive boutique clinic, the White House Medical Unit (WHMU), a fully-appointed private hospital in the virus-infested public housing unit temporarily occupied by Mr. Trump. It’s a combination urgent-care center and emergency room.
The WHMU normally has a staff of about 24 doctors, nurses, physician assistants and army medics in addition to White House Physician Sean Conley. Dr. Conley, you may remember, is the medical genius who said that Donald Trump was at a low risk of contracting coronavirus, and prescribed hydroxychloroquine for the president as a COVID-19 preventative. The WHMU is a military unit, and additional personnel can be mobilized as needed on a moment’s notice.
So don’t let anyone tell you that elderly, obese COVID-19 patient Donald Trump has “moved back home.” He just moved from one exclusive government-funded hospital to another.
More:
“What medical facilities does the White House have now that Trump’s leaving the hospital?” Don Sweeney, McClatchy DC
“Trump Returned To The White House And Took His Mask Off While Infected With COVID-19,” Stephanie M. Lee and Amber Jamieson, BuzzFeed News
Related:
“Concern rises for White House residence staffers as their workplace emerges as a virus hot spot,” Jada Yuan, Washington Post
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White House staff diversity, already low, is decreasing:
“Of the 55 highest-earning White House staffers, POLITICO was able to identify only a half-dozen who are not white. Along with [director of strategic communications Mercedes] Schlapp, that includes director of management and administration Marcia Lee Kelly, who is Korean-American, and Joyce Meyer, a Filipino-American who is a senior member of the legislative affairs team.”
“’Having diversity in a leadership team is clearly necessary for top performance,’ said Max Stier, the president of the Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit that advised the Trump transition team as it set up the government. ‘The proverbial group think, which is a real problem, becomes less of one when you have a diverse team.’
He added: ‘It’s not something that’s going to get better by accident. It’s something that gets better when people at the top prioritize it’.
The White House did not respond to a request for comment on Friday about the diversity of its staff.”
— “Trump’s inner circle gets whiter,” Andrew Restuccia, Politico
More:
“Trump has so few senior black advisers, Kellyanne Conway struggles to name one,” Emily Stewart, Vox
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President Donald Trump so enjoyed his successful Helsinki meeting with Vladimir Putin that he’s sent a message to the Russian strongman inviting him to the White House this fall. Great, another damn sequel. Perhaps Russian oligarchs could use the occasion to hold a GOP fundraiser in DC — it wouldn’t be the first for some of them.
Mr. Putin may be welcome at the White House and the Trump Hotel, but he can forget about addressing a joint session of Congress. Maybe he can pop across the Potomac to visit his fans at the NRA instead.
Word around DC is that White House Chief of Staff John Kelly will be the next to leave the realty TV show that is the Trump Administration, and the president is looking for a replacement. We suggest Julie Chen, host of the CBS show Big Brother. She’s said nice things about Mr. Trump, and has the perfect résumé, 20 years of monitoring a bunch of immature, self-involved, bullying backstabbers.
More:
“Why a new chief of staff wouldn’t change Trump’s White House,” Annie Karni, Politico
“John Kelly, Scott Pruitt, and the Epic Turnover of the Trump Administration,” Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker
Update:
“John Kelly intends to remain as Trump’s chief of staff through 2020 reelection,” Philip Rucker, Washington Post
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The understaffed Trump White House keeps losing employees. There’s been a steady exodus ( Steven Cheung is the latest), and now we hear talk that Sarah Huckabee Sanders, Raj Shah, and even John Kelly are eyeing the exit.
But it’s getting harder to find experienced people to work in the Trump Administration. That’s why the White House HR Department is going to be at a Capital Hill Job Fair on Friday. Greetings, interns!
More:
“Trump White House advertises at a Hill job fair amid staff exodus,” Annie Karni, Politico
Related:
“Nation Not Sure How Many Ex-Trump Staffers It Can Safely Reabsorb,” The Onion
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