Inside Trump's Oval Office

New Statesman​

11-06-2025

Donald Trump with the British ambassador to the United States, Peter Mandelson, in the Oval Office. Photo by Jim Watson / AFP via Getty Images
To foreign visitors, walking into President Trump's Oval Office has become akin to entering the Colosseum. My fellow ambassadors spend days trying to persuade the White House to allow their incoming head of government to forgo the thrill of the Oval media spray, or at least have the closed-door lunch beforehand as an early barometer of what may be on the president's mind. None succeed. The president is eager for the fray, and the visitor's secret of success is to leave him to it, stay relaxed, speak when spoken to and never take the bait. Keir Starmer's Oval appearance is viewed across Washington's diplomatic corps as the model. It's just a shame that not all of them have a popular king from whom to deliver a state visit invitation.
Art of the deal
The US-UK trade deal was smart, nimble diplomacy by my embassy and London officials – met by an equal measure of professionalism and goodwill from President Trump's team. When I entered the anything-can-happen Oval Office and picked my way past the Churchill bust and gilt adornments to take my place behind the Resolute desk for the trade deal's launch, the White House protocol officer issued me with clear instructions to stand behind the president and say nothing. I was there in a purely supporting capacity, while the Prime Minister was poised to be dialled in from Jaguar Land Rover's West Midlands HQ to give his endorsement to the VE-Day deal. President Trump was enjoying himself. The conversation and the cameras rolled on, and I was gazing around, soaking in the atmosphere when suddenly he looked over his shoulder and asked if I had anything to say. Luckily my political skills kicked in, my Rolls-Royce gag worked, and I was praised for my 'beautiful accent'. More than an hour (which seemed like a week) later, the press were herded out. The president brandished his trademark Sharpie and presented me with a signed copy of his talking points, plus a stash of signed Maga caps for my staff. They had earned them.
No contest
My conclusion from listening to the president on this and other occasions is that the secret of his political success is that he always knows what he wants to say, means it when he says it and is never lost for words. He is not gun-shy. The discipline of the administration – Elon Musk notwithstanding – is impressive. Compared with Trump 1, when freelancing secretaries and congressional revolts were widespread in the party, Republicans now are remarkably careful not to show any difference from the president. I regularly commute to the Hill to see House and Senate members, who may not all be cut from the same Trumpian cloth, but have nonetheless heard the views of their electoral base.
The Maga movers and shakers who were instrumental to the Trump victory, and now form the DC establishment, are not ideologues. Nonetheless, like Trump and his forceful vice-president, JD Vance, they have clearly formed instincts and deeply held beliefs. They want to see these reflected in pioneering, radical domestic and foreign policies, unfettered by more conventionally minded civil servants and others they refer to as 'the Deep State'. They are impatient and ruthless, and leave those with more moderate politics flailing, unable to decide whether to stick up for their centrism or outflank them to the left.
Democrats are, so far, at a loss to know how to oppose Trump. They hold on to the hope that history rhymes, the pendulum will swing and they will regain the House, if not the Senate, in the 2026 midterms. They may well be right, but hope, as they say, is not a strategy.
Dog days
There is no doubt that for my husband, Reinaldo, and me, living in a historic residence with such a beautiful garden is both a privilege and hard work, with all the hosting and entertaining that comes with the job. It is expected that 18,000 visitors will join us at receptions, events, dinners, salons and roundtables this year. Unfortunately, I cannot compete with my predecessors who conducted a lot of their diplomatic work on the residence's tennis court, but I do have another asset: Jock, the universally popular Ambassa-Dog, who is shortly to make his Instagram debut. He has all the wonderful qualities you associate with a collie and visitors queue up to throw his ball for him, which he retrieves and leaves at other guests' feet. But he is best not startled after he has turned in for the night, as Dame Emily Thornberry, the warm and redoubtable chair of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, discovered when she strayed into our flat rather than her bedroom when returning to the residence after an evening of networking on the Hill.
[See also: How Russia became a franchise of the Wagner Group]
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