Trump Waves Off Travel Plans And Hunkers Down At White House

Oval Office for the week. Mar-a-Lago for the weekend. President Donald Trump isn’t keen to jet-set in his second term.

Trump has taken far fewer domestic trips in the early weeks of his second administration than in his first — waving off multiple domestic travel plans proposed to him by senior staffers, according to two officials familiar with the logistics granted anonymity to speak freely about the conversations.

The first of those was a visit to the southern U.S. border shortly after he was sworn in — a trip that would have showcased the mass deportation plans that were central to his election, one of the officials said. Vice President JD Vance ultimately made the first border visit of the second term earlier this month.

While Trump’s frequent flyer status might be in jeopardy, White House officials say there’s an up-side to him hunkering down in the Oval.

They argue that Trump – who enhanced his reputation in a reality show boardroom – is most effective and productive from behind the Resolute desk, wielding a fat-tipped black marker for executive order signings that have already reshaped the federal government alongside Elon Musk.

“The Oval Office is the mecca of where everything can get done,” said one of the White House officials granted anonymity to speak about strategy. “He spent time with the American people. They know exactly what he promised them, and now the Oval Office is where he’s going to get the job done.”

In the first eight weeks of Trump’s first administration, he made eight trips outside of the greater D.C. area excluding weekend trips to his Mar-a-Lago residence. This included visits to Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Delaware and Tennessee. By comparison, Trump’s second term so far has consisted of a single trip that touched on three states hit by disaster, a long Florida weekend featuring a limo lap around the Daytona 500 and a speech at an investor’s conference, and a day trip to New Orleans for the Super Bowl – from which he left early.

By comparison, former President Joe Biden’s first eight weeks consisted of six trips – not counting those to his Delaware home – with travel stifled by COVID-19. Former President Barack Obama clocked eight trips in the first eight weeks of his second term, according to a POLITICO analysis.

Trump, however, hosted more foreign leaders at the White House in the first eight weeks. He hosted eight visits, compared to Biden’s two bilateral meetings, both of which were virtual due to COVID-19, and two hosted by Obama.

A president’s travel is often used to sell their agenda, tout political wins and build on-the-ground support from the community to which they’re traveling. A routine spotlight travel moment for most presidents falls after their first joint address to Congress. In 2017, Trump traveled to Virginia and Florida two days after his address, greeting Navy personnel at a shipyard and the next day visiting a Catholic school to show his commitment to school choice. This go-round, Trump stayed in Washington and met with House Freedom Caucus members at the White House.

“In 53 days, President Trump has already achieved more than most presidents in an entire term,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said in a statement.

Trump’s distaste for overnighting away from his own properties is not new, and was a frequent logistical consideration during the campaign, when Trump almost always flew back to his Florida, New Jersey or New York homes. Trump, age 78, is also the oldest person to take the oath of office.

Unlike in his first term, the pressure of reelection is no longer there, acknowledged a person familiar with Trump’s thinking and granted anonymity to speak about the president. He still reads polls and watches news insistently, but he and the team are less concerned with traditional optics this time around, the person said.

The plan so far has been to leverage Vance and some of Trump’s Cabinet to participate in trips more historically reserved for a commander-in-chief, said a White House official.

An outside political adviser to Trump granted anonymity to speak about logistics said less travel in the first few months had always been the plan.

“I think this was probably in the back of everyone’s mind going in. We are just going to crush this first 100 days from the house and then go from there,” they said.

Even before taking office, Trump’s desire to travel less following a jam-packed campaign trail was evident. In November, there were initial plans for a handful of Trump “victory rallies” across battleground states leading up to inauguration day. Those plans were ultimately scrapped. In contrast, after winning the 2016 election, Trump hosted 10 “victory rallies” from December to inauguration day.

The rest of the world is adapting. A handful of world leaders traveled to meet with Trump at his Mar-a-Lago residence during the transition and most recently the House GOP held their January retreat at Trump’s Miami property, creating questions about conflicts of interest.

As of now, there are no confirmed trips on Trump’s calendar other than routine weekends at Mar-a-Lago, per a White House official. He will likely visit the southern U.S. border in his first 100 days, the person said.