Report: Trump Used To Pepper His Chief Of Staff With Questions About Badgers During Briefings
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As former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus attempted to brief President Donald Trump about the most high-stakes foreign and domestic policy maelstroms of the day, Trump often instead derailed the conversation to something else pressing on his mind: badgers.
That’s according to “Sinking In The Swamp: How Trump’s Minions and Misfits Poisoned Washington,” a new book by Daily Beast reporters Lachlan Markay and Asawin Suebsaeng, that details Trump’s keen interest in badgers, the state animal of Wisconsin, where Priebus hails from.
there’s a part of the book by @lachlan & me that probs won’t get excerpted anywhere, but i have a soft spot for it: President Trump would repeatedly derail WH/policy conversations he was having w/ Reince Priebus to ask him if Wisconsin badgers were mean to people & what they ate
— Asawin Suebsaeng (@swin24) February 12, 2020
Trump wanted to know about their disposition: “Are they mean to people? Or are they friendly creatures?” And crucially, the president was interested in how badgers “work” exactly.
He also asked Priebus if he had any photos of badgers he could show him, according to Business Insider.
Trump, as he does with those who work for him, and do or don’t support him, was interested in whether badgers have personalities or if they are low energy (boring.)
When Priebus was forced out and replaced by John Kelly, he did not mention the badger chats, but said serving in the administration was “one of the greatest honors of my life.”
On Tuesday, the White House announced Priebus would take on a new role as a member of the President’s Commission on White House Fellowships.
