What do you give a president who constantly commands global attention?
For President Donald Trump's cabinet members, the answer appeared to be a nearly half-day televised meeting held at the White House.
Facing a wall of cameras, the former reality show host provided a revealing glimpse into his leadership style—marked by a seemingly insatiable ego and a stubborn defiance. "This has never been done before," Trump declared at one point, alternating between calling on secretaries to speak and marveling at reporters who held microphones and cameras aloft for hours.
Inside the Cabinet Room—which, like Trump's Oval Office, has begun to resemble a gilded cage—the president's team took turns speaking, each striving to outdo the last in praising Trump and assuring him they were working to address his extensive list of grievances.
That list has grown increasingly specific, encompassing Trump’s political obsessions and ambitions. It ranged from banning transgender athletes in U.S. sports to advocating for tough measures—potentially including the death penalty—to combat violent crime; from opposing wind turbines and deploring unsightly road medians to criticizing water flow rates; and from pursuing peace deals for as many as seven ongoing international conflicts—a figure that seems to grow daily.
Despite his pop culture savvy, Trump had relatively little to say about what may have been the day’s biggest news: Taylor Swift’s engagement to Travis Kelce, the Kansas City Chiefs tight end, whom Trump has publicly insulted and threatened for not endorsing him. The event lasted so long that the president was eventually asked to comment on breaking news during the meeting.
"I wish them the best," Trump said. "I think he’s a great guy, and I think she’s a wonderful person. So I wish them all the best."
The cabinet gathering was billed as a celebration of American workers ahead of Labor Day. Yet, at three hours and 15 minutes, it would be considered an extraordinarily inefficient meeting in any other workplace. The menu of substantive policy discussion was sparse compared to the heavy political rhetoric, but for one afternoon, Trump’s White House was as transparently unfiltered as the president likes to claim.
"There’s something really nice about the transparency of what we do," Trump reflected as he closed the meeting. "This is government."
He also appeared keen to remind attendees that any cabinet member could be publicly humiliated on national television at any moment. "Every one of these people has spoken," Trump said, seemingly pleased (and relieved) with their performances. "If I thought one of them did poorly, I would call them out."
He even praised them for putting aside their daily agendas: "These people are very busy!"
As the hours passed, Trump’s cabinet members highlighted the costs—whether in time, money, or political capital—of maintaining their positions at his side. Many also tested the boundaries of the Hatch Act, which prohibits federal employees from engaging in political activities while on duty.
Updates ranged from enthusiastic—Labor Secretary Lori Chavez-DeRemer implored the president to visit her agency and see her “big and beautiful” banner—to overt displays of sycophancy, stretching on for hours.
Occasionally, policy issues emerged, but only as opportunities for Trump to weave in his own thoughts or pivot sharply to the right. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a former presidential hopeful, gave an update on shrimp contaminated with radioactive material and accused South Asian countries of dumping shrimp that were then packaged and sold at Walmart.
"You’re going to save the whales," Kennedy said, recalling an incident when he once cut off a whale’s head and brought it home, while ranting against wind farms and wind energy—topics that have long irritated the president.
Kennedy then entered a back-and-forth with Trump over autism rates in young children, prompting the president to speculate aloud whether there might be "something artificially causing it, like a drug or something," echoing a widely debunked theory linking vaccines to autism and broadening it into a vague insinuation.
At other points, glimpses of the reality behind this radical transparency surfaced. Secretary of State Marco Rubio acknowledged that this year’s Labor Day held special significance for him.
"Personally, this is the most meaningful Labor Day of my life, as someone who holds four jobs," Rubio said, referring to his roles as Trump’s national security advisor, acting head of the National Archives and Records Administration, and acting administrator of USAID.
"That’s true," the president responded.
Then there was Steve Witkoff, a billionaire whose praise was so obsequious that even the president seemed to recognize its excess. During his turn, Witkoff, Trump’s peace envoy, lauded the president’s leadership in the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict—a war that recently saw Israeli strikes kill 20 people, including journalists, in a Gaza hospital. Witkoff again suggested Trump should be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize he has long sought.
"There is only one thing I wish for: that the Nobel Committee finally gets moving and realizes you are the best candidate since the Peace Prize was established," Witkoff said.
At the conclusion, the billionaire received enthusiastic applause from his colleagues. Later, during a Q&A session with journalists and far-right media figures, Trump returned to his envoy and frequent golf companion. According to Trump, Witkoff had assured him he was the only person capable of resolving the Russia-Ukraine war.
"I don’t know," Trump said. "You’ve told me that several times."
The seasoned reality TV star then broke the fourth wall: "Unless you said it just to boost my ego. But really, that’s not the case. I don’t have an ego when it comes to these things," Trump claimed.
At another point, the president, acutely aware of the power and risks tied to branding, expressed interest in renaming a sweeping piece of legislation he had dubbed "the big, beautiful law." He suggested the fine print had been lost on the average American worker the cabinet had gathered to honor.
"I’m not going to use the term ‘big, great, beautiful,’" Trump said. "That was good to get it passed, but it’s not good to explain to people what it’s about."
He added, "It’s a huge tax cut for the middle class."
As much as was said on Tuesday, the transparency was clear but the truth was less so: the legislation overwhelmingly benefits the wealthiest and harms low-income households.
Regardless, the spectacle was broadcast live from the Cabinet Room for hours on end. The president held the reins.
For Trump, three hours of uninterrupted attention were enough. At least for that day.
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