What does someone whose name is synonymous with bragging about his private plane and gold-leafed apartments say when his top aides’ taxpayer-funded private plane travel becomes an issue? Donald Trump’s comments to reporters Sunday suggest that the answer depends how aggressively the aide in question has been sucking up. Hours after Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin echoed Trump on NFL players’ anthem protests (talk about an issue not related to the treasury secretary’s job), Trump was dismissive of questions about Mnuchin’s travel habits, while leaving his feelings about Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price’s flight-chartering ways a little less clear. From a pool report:
Q: Any comment on your cabinet secretaries’ flights? Charter flights? Private travel, Mr. President? Should they be using charter flights at the taxpayers’ expense?
A: Who did?
Q: Your treasury secretary. Sec. Mnuchin. HHS Sec. Price.
A: Oh, I don’t think he took the flight. I think if you check your records, he didn’t take the flight. Why don’t you check your records before you –
Q: He took a flight from New York back to DC.
A: Why don’t you check your records before you make a statement. As I understood it – I don’t know much about it – I haven’t heard about it, but I understand he never took that flight.
Q: He flew from New York back to DC and HHS Sec. Price also –
A: You’ll have to ask him about that. I don’t know. (crosstalk) As far as Sec. Price is concerned, that’s different. We’re looking into it.
Q: Do you respect the investigations of these IGs?
A: Always. Always. Thanks very much.
Mnuchin? He’s great. No worries. Price, who some in the White House reportedly are annoyed with for not focusing his efforts entirely on Obamacare repeal in recent weeks, is “different.” “We’re looking into it.”
Mind you, Trump isn’t doing anything extreme like immediately telling Price to quit using hundreds of thousands of dollars in private jet flights that his predecessors didn’t require. But he leaves the possibility open that Price could be in some trouble. Especially if he makes Trump mad about something else, no doubt.