President Trump never seems to think of his occupation of the White House as temporary, any more than he viewed his presidency that way. He viewed both as if they were his own, and he believed he could only lose if he chose to do so. Because the White House belongs to the American people, not to any particular politician, presidents have long been careful to keep electoral politics out of the building. Not Trump. He spoke from the building at the 2020 convention.
“The fact of the matter is, we’re here, the White House is, and they’re not,” Trump said. “For me, one of the most beautiful buildings in the world, which is not a building, is a house as far as I’m concerned. It’s not even a house, it’s a home.”
President Trump’s sense of ownership of the building extends to the souvenir he made, the “White House Key.” Jared Kushner, an adviser to President Trump and his son-in-law, described the tchotchke in his book Breaking History.
“When I met with President Trump, [Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu]he pulled out his signature gift, an oversized bronze “key to the White House” in a wooden box engraved with the presidential seal. Trump personally designed the keys to give to special guests. ”
“This is the first key I’m going to give someone. Even if I’m no longer president, I can walk up to the front gate of the White House and present it and they’ll let me in,” he said. . . ” ”
— “Breaking History” Jared Kushner
Kushner wrote that he “tried not to laugh” during the presentation. As a matter of course. The president cannot simply grant someone lifetime access to the White House. Not only because of the security implications, but also because, again, this house is not something the president will give away to anyone else. Trump was given permission by the people to stay there. The grant is not transferable.
But at least he was president then. At least he lived in the White House. That’s no longer the case. So why is he still handing out the keys?
On Tuesday, Trump left the Manhattan courthouse where he was attending a criminal trial and headed uptown to Trump Tower. There he met with former Prime Minister Taro Aso. It was part of President Trump’s increasingly blatant shadow diplomacy efforts, engaging with foreign leaders aimed at building relationships and establishing himself on the international stage in hopes of winning re-election.
Trump’s campaign sent reporters a “readout” of the meeting with Aso, itself a mirror of how the president sums up his meetings with foreign leaders, and also attached the photo below. .
Yes, Trump gave Aso the keys to the White House. It is unclear whether Aso would have expressed the same attitude when he presented the keys at the White House gate. (I sent a question to the campaign about this encounter but did not receive a response.)
This is, simply put, weird. Mayors hand out keys to their cities to famous people as a symbolic gesture, but it seems safe to say that they generally stop handing them out after leaving office. After all, this city doesn’t belong to them. But here Donald Trump is acting as if he is simply renting the White House to President Biden and letting Aso know that he is welcome to stop by and use the bowling alley anyway.
To be sure, some of that is due to the impression President Trump gave at the 2020 Republican convention: that presidential power is rightfully his, even if temporarily out of reach. There’s something I’m trying to do. He is very much Napoleon Bonaparte, walking around the streets of Elba in his distinctive hat and handing people the keys to the Rue Elysée. he will come back.
There is an interesting footnote worth mentioning here. In September, one of these keys was put up for auction and sold for about $3,700. The auction site said the key came from the “private collection of a very high-ranking member of President Donald Trump’s inner circle,” and that such keys were “used by foreign dignitaries and others during the Trump-Pence presidential campaign.” It was specially created and presented to other VIPs.” management. ” After that, it looks like they’ll be on sale while supplies last. Certainly a better gift for Aso than sneakers or NFTs.
But this auction raises some interesting questions. Is $3,700 a fair price to pay for unlimited lifetime access to the White House?
