Time apparently was of the essence for President Trump as he redesigned the Cabinet Room — the commander in chief says he swiped a “gorgeous” clock from Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s office to instead use in the White House.
A Tuesday Cabinet meeting took an unexpected, “Extreme Makeover: West Wing Edition”-style turn when Trump shared that he had spent time personally selecting new art for the historic meeting room because it previously featured some “not very good” portraits.
“I picked it all myself. I’m very proud of it,” Trump told his Cabinet, as he went through the room, piece by piece, explaining why he chose likenesses of past presidents including Andrew Jackson, James Polk, Franklin D. Roosevelt, George Washington, Dwight Eisenhower, John Adams and John Quincy Adams.
“Look at those frames. I’m a frame person,” Trump said, admiring his portrait selections, before Rubio pointed to a clock in the corner of the Cabinet Room.
“Marco pointed it out — I was going to leave the clock,” Trump said.
“So as president, you have the power — if I go into the State Department, or Department of Commerce or Treasury — if I see anything that I like, I’m allowed to take it. Can you believe this? Trump said to laughs from the Cabinet.
“I’m in Marco’s office [and] I see this gorgeous clock, grandfather clock,” Trump recalled with a wide grin.
“I had to read him the rule and regulation,” Trump quipped.
“I said, ‘Marco, I love this clock. Look at it. It’s beautiful.’”
“He said, ‘What clock?’” Trump said, as Rubio looked on with a smile while sitting next to the president.
“The clock that’s in the other room is incredible and nobody gets to see it there,” Trump said he told Rubio, initially attempting to convince him to voluntarily give up the ticking timepiece.
“I tried to talk him into it first, and it sort of worked,” Trump said playfully, before acknowledging he then he had to apply a little more pressure.
Trump explained to his secretary of State, “‘I’d love to take that clock out and put it in the Cabinet Room.’ He said, ‘No, are you serious?’”
“I said, ‘Marco, I have the right to do it,’” Trump said as he put his hand on Rubio’s shoulder.
“That’s his contribution to the Cabinet Room,” Trump concluded to a chorus of chuckles.
“But, by the way, it’s an incredible clock,” Trump added.
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