Good Shoes, Talking Money, and Listening to ‘The Weave’: Mark Halperin Reveals the Do’s and Don’ts of Meeting With Trump
(AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Veteran political reporter Mark Halperin revealed the “Dos and Don’ts” for meeting with President Donald Trump on his new MK Media show Tuesday, sharing Washington, D.C. lobbyists’ advice for their clients with his audience.
A longtime insider who is particularly plugged into Trump World, Halperin dished on how to be successful in making inroads with the president.
DO: STOP WORRYING AND LEARN TO LOVE ‘THE WEAVE’
According to Halperin, how the president’s interlocutor handles ‘The Weave’ plays a big part in determining what he thinks of them.
“What the lobbyists tell me is if your client goes in the Oval Office, he or she is gonna be subjected to ‘The Weave’ almost invariably. Sometimes one-on-one with Donald Trump and the CEO, sometimes other people in the room, but invariably ‘The Weave’ will occur,” said Halperin. “And if you’re a normal person who’s not used to ‘The Weave,’ it’s a little disconcerting to be sitting with the president of the United States while he’s talking about golf, and then Macron, and then the prices at Mar-a-Lago, and then gossip about some member of Congress. You gotta get in the spirit of ‘The Weave,’ because if you are in there, and you get confused, or act confused, or ask a question and interrupt ‘The Weave’ because you wanna show you’re interested — bad. You gotta be in the rhythm of ‘The Weave’ and you have to follow it as best you can, and you gotta look like you’re following it.
DON’T: BRING UP HIS FAMILY
Despite his family members’ active roles in his political and business lives, Trump does not respond well when they’re brought up in conversation.
“Never, ever, the lobbyists all say, never, ever name check a member of the Trump family at a restaurant, anywhere in public,” noted Halperin. “The president does not want to hear you talking about his family members. So, if you’ve got secret dealings with them, great, but do not talk in any public way about family members.”
DO: DRESS FOR SUCCESS
The president is evidently a wholehearted believer in judging a book by its cover.
“If you go on Fox, which the president watches regularly, or any other cable channel that Donald Trump’s watching, you gotta say the right things, but you also have to look great,” observed Halperin. “If you don’t look great, the president, that’s all he’ll focus on. So you gotta say the things, and you gotta look right. And if you got a meet with the President, same thing. You gotta dress the part. If you’re a man, you have to wear the nicest possible shoes. Do not go in the Oval Office with Donald Trump with scuffed shoes, or cheap shoes.”
DON’T: SPORT A SPREAD COLLAR
Lobbyists have been known to rush their clients to the store if they don’t have the look Trump likes when they arrive in town.
“If you’re not wearing the right kind of classic collar, go buy a new shirt. He does not want to see a spread collar. Doesn’t like it,” revealed Halperin. So sometimes the lobbyists say, if the client comes into town and they’re not wearing the right shoes and the right shirt, they’ll rush him over to a fancy store and buy the right stuff. Gotta go in the Oval looking good.”
DO: GO TO MAR-A-LAGO
The president’s Florida resort is apparently the best place to meet with him.
“Any lobbyist can tell you the best way to see Trump is not necessarily in the White House, it’s at Mar-a-Lago, because if you’re at Mar-a-Lago, and you’re on the patio, and Donald Trump is there, your odds are good you’re going to get an audience with him,” said Halperin.
DON’T: GO TO BEDMINSTER
But the exact opposite is true of his property in New Jersey.
“He [Trump] spends the summers, and spring, and fall in Bedminster. People, all the lobbyists say, don’t go to Bedminster. The culture is different, there’s not as much mingling, there’s not as high a possibility you’re going to see Donald Trump if you’re there,” observed Halperin.
DO: SHOW HIM THE MONEY
And, of course, cash is king.
“Super important — super important — is money, right? Donald Trump keeps score with a lot of different variables, but money is really important to him. And so what you’re seeing now, again, largely below the radar, he’s raising a ton of money for his different campaign accounts, but he’s also asking corporations to make commitments to build manufacturing facilities in the United States, other pots of money is the presidential library,” commented Halperin. “The lobbyists all tell their clients, ‘You want to play big in Trump world, you want to be influential, you want be part of the influential crowd and get what you want from the president. You have to spend money.’ You either have to give a lot of campaign contributions, or you have to announce you’re going to spend money to help the U.S. economy.”
“If you have the table stakes, and campaign contributions we’re talking millions, and investing in America often we’re talking billions. If you can raise that money and get that money together, you’re at the table. You have an opportunity to be a big player in the administration,” he concluded. “If you don’t, you’re not going to be at the table.”
