‘Every Day Was Like a “Veep” Episode’: The Veepiest Moments of the Trump Era
Jan. 20, 2017Under rainy skies, Trump delivers a bleak inauguration speech invoking national failures and “American carnage.” Former President George W. Bush, who sits behind him on the dais, later declares: “That was some weird shit.”
Jan. 21, 2017In a news conference, press secretary Sean Spicer insists Trump’s inauguration attracted the biggest crowd of any presidential inauguration in history, “period,” despite aerial photos that clearly showed much lighter attendance than Barack Obama’s 2009 ceremony. Spicer said the crowds appeared smaller only because white ground coverings in the photos “had the effect of highlighting any areas where people were not standing.”
Jan. 2017Trump’s White House staff quickly discover that the president prefers to work with papers over computers, and has a habit of tearing up his papers when he’s finished reading them. Legally obligated to preserve Trump’s memos, files and other correspondence, his staffers spend hours each day taping ripped documents back together again.
Feb. 10, 2017Trump alternately pats and yanks Japanese President Shinzo Abe’s hand during a 19-second handshake in the Oval Office.
Feb. 13, 2017In preparation for his own White House handshake, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau braces his arm so that Trump can’t yank his arm away. It turns out Trudeau had practiced the move with senior aides on the plane to Washington.
Mid-Feb. 2017After a series of damaging revelations about the new administration end up in the press, Sean Spicer tries to curb leaks by calling a staff meeting to check phones for any unauthorized leaks to the media. The meeting is promptly leaked to the media.
March 17, 2017When German Chancellor Angela Merkel visits the White House, Trump completely ignores her outstretched hand.
Early 2017Chief of staff Reince Priebus, wary of what the unpredictable president might do or decide, becomes known for literally sprinting through the West Wing to keep Trump from having Oval Office meetings without him.
Early April 2017Omarosa Manigault brings her wedding party to the White House for an impromptu and extended photo shoot. The visitors, with Manigault dressed in bridal attire, wander through the West Wing and Rose Garden, disturbing White House lawyers and senior aides, who ban her and her guests from posting the photos online. By then, Manigault has become known internally for her habit of leaving shoes around the office, which other staffers have to kick aside as a fire hazard.
