Quote · The Bulwark Podcast
Maggie Haberman: A Gross and Messy White House
Where this was said
Trump's Bedroom: Chips, Ice Cream, and Beautiful Mind Boxes
At 41:42 · chapter starts 40:35
In one of the episode's most memorable passages, Haberman describes the state of Trump's private White House bedroom. When the Trumps returned, they wanted everything as they had left it — Melania hadn't arrived yet, so Trump was alone in the residence. He picked items from the center hall and distributed them between his bedroom and the Oval Office, which he was simultaneously gilding until there was 'not a square inch not covered in something gold colored.' In his own bedroom: a carpeted bathroom, ice cream cartons, potato chip bags, Starburst wrappers (not Starbucks, Haberman corrects — that was a typo in early editions). Staff monitored the silverware because pieces kept vanishing into the trash. And then there were the bankers boxes, stacked so high their removal left visible impressions in the carpet — the same 'Beautiful Mind boxes' that became central to the Mar-a-Lago documents indictment.
Trump's White House bedroom featured potato chip bags, ice cream cartons, Starburst wrappers, a carpeted bathroom, and bankers boxes stacked so high they left impressions in the carpet. Staff monitored the silverware because pieces kept disappearing into the trash. This is how the president of the United States lives.
Trump's White House bedroom contained potato chip bags, ice cream cartons, and Starburst wrappers, and staff had to monitor silverware disappearing into the trash.
