US Politics
Military leaders aghast as Meta founder Zuckerberg crashes classified Oval Office meeting on fighter jets: report
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So a Facebook founder walks into an Oval Office meeting …
No, it’s not the start of a bad joke, just the latest reminder that In Donald Trump’s White House, the easiest way to avoid being surprised is to remember that anything can happen.
Air Force leaders learned that lesson earlier this year when they arrived for a top-secret briefing with Trump in the Oval Office, which according to NBC News was scheduled for them to discuss plans for America’s sixth-generation fighter aircraft, dubbed the F-47 in a nod to Trump’s status as the 47th President of the United States.
As the generals were going over the details of the super-stealthy plane, which Trump has called the most advanced, capable and lethal combat aircraft platform ever built, they were startled by the appearance of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg popping into the Oval Office.
According to NBC, White House officials became concerned that Zuckerberg, one of the wealthiest men in the world, lacked the security clearance required to be present for talks about such a sensitive national security matter.
With that in mind, Zuckerberg was politely asked to step out of the Oval while the conversation continued, though other Trump aides wandered in and out to show the president information on computer screens while his mobile phone rang intermittently.
The incident, which one administration official said was an example of the “bizarro world” atmosphere in the Trump White House, reportedly rattled the generals in attendance, who were “mystified and a bit unnerved” by the lack of privacy in the Oval Office — so much so that they “quietly discussed among themselves whether the visitors and calls might have compromised sensitive information” afterwards.
But the freewheeling atmosphere they encountered during their effort to brief the president on a top-secret fighter plane project has been part and parcel of how Trump has transformed the West Wing since returning to power this past January.
The president reportedly has taken to referring to the Oval Office — the iconic inner sanctum of American executive power — as “Grand Central Terminal,” comparing it to the bustling train station of his native New York City.
For the most part, he’s not wrong to do so. Unlike in most other administrations where the president’s office is a tightly-controlled environment with only a select few top aides given so-called “walk-in privileges,” Trump’s Oval is the center of his world of friends, confidantes, advisers and employees who often mill about nearby in the West Wing, even when they might not have much to do there.
Even Trump’s cabinet secretaries, who ostensibly have their own, often ornate offices and large bureaucracies to attend to themselves, have taken to spending time at the White House to pop in and out of meetings with top Trump aides, such as Deputy Chief of Staff Stephen Miller and Chief of Staff Susie Wiles.
One person who has been on the inside for such meetings told NBC: “No one wants to miss the decision.”
Trump himself also contributes to this dynamic by routinely asking people who’ve come for one meeting to stay around for another one.
One White House aide who spoke to The Independent on condition of anonymity said the freewheeling atmosphere there is a product of Trump’s nature as a “people person.”
“He likes to schmooze and bounce things off of whoever is around,” the aide said.
